Wings of a Fairy
by R011ingThunder
Summary: History changed by a single sentence… Mira and Elfman pick up Lisanna to complete an S-Class quest to stop The Beast. Natsu begs to be allowed to come along and, with Lisanna's insistence, he gets to tag along for the mission. Little does she know, her single statement will cause a chain of events that will change the history of Fairy Tail. -E. Clarke
1. Fairy Wings

Lisanna watched the autumn leaves descend around her. The cool breeze drifted through her short white hair as she laid back against the giant tree in Magnolia's state park. The past week had been a hectic one. Job after job after job… She could only hope her dedication has paid off. Her body was still sore. Normally she would've gone on jobs with her siblings but she had to do solo jobs if she wanted to get chosen. This was the time of year everyone was doing solo jobs in the hopes of getting picked. It was strange. Just a little over a year ago, she didn't really care about getting stronger. While it was still her dream to grow in power, she was in no rush. Now, she was pushing herself every day.

Which was why it felt so good to just sit back and relax under the great oak tree. She wanted to grow stronger but she still needed a break once and a while.

She flinched as a flying piece of fish landed right on her cheek.

"Honestly, Happy," she groaned, wiping the piece of fish off her face. "Nothing I teach you ever sticks." Beside her, the blue cat was devouring a plate of fish, pieces of it flying in all direction. She had tried to teach Happy some proper table manners in the past but he never learns. It wasn't like she was trying to teach him table settings. She was just trying to get him to be a bit neater. Would it kill him not to gorge his food?

She watched as he chomped down the last few bites and plopped back, his hand on his bulging belly.

"Ah, that was delicious," he sighed. Lisanna took a handkerchief from the pocket of her light blue shirt and wiped his face down.

"Keep eating like this and the only thing I'll catch for you next time will be wing fish," she said as she folded up the piece of cloth and put it away.

"They can't be that bad!" Happy remarked cheerfully, sitting up at the thought of finally sinking his teeth into wing fish. "They're still giant fishies!"

"Well, if you're all filled with fish, it's time we head back to the guild hall," she said, getting to her feet. "Master should be announcing the results and I need to attend the bar." She brushed off the grass that had attached itself to her blue knee-length skirt and adjusted her white scarf so that the wind wouldn't blow it into her face. With a flash of light, Lisanna's arms transformed into a pair of green bird wings.

"You ready?" she asked her tiny companion, who had sprouted his own pair of wings.

"Aye, ma'am!" he cheered as they both took off into the air. As her entire body lifted off the ground, there was another flash of light as the rest of her body turned into a massive green bird that soared for the guild hall. She prayed that she would get picked. Still, even if she didn't, she learned a lot thanks to these jobs.

-.-

It was still early in the morning so the guild hall was rather empty. Lisanna just wanted to get a head start to reach it. She burst through the front door, her blue cat on her shoulder.

"Hey, everyone! We're back!" she announced. But the moment those words left her mouth, she immediately braced for impact. The guild hall was usually a battleground. She expected to find herself besieged by flying mages being flung across the room. Surprisingly, she was met by warm greetings and the sound of idle chatter.

"Huh? It looks like everything's calm today," Lisanna commented. She was afraid that she would have to spend the next ten minutes trying to stay alive in the crossfire. To be fair, the fights were nowhere near as ferocious as they used to be but they still happened once and a while. Seeing that the coast was clear, there was only one thing on Happy's mind.

"Time to raid the pantry!"

The flying blue cat barely got a foot before Lisanna reached out and grabbed him by the green bag he wore.

"Don't you dare," she said. "You promised you'd help me man the bar today." She made her way past the people in the hall, glancing at them with a smile on her way by. Unsurprisingly, Cana was already at the bar, waiting for her alcohol.

"I still think you need to cut down on your drinking," the youngest Strauss remarked as she poured Miss Alberona her drink.

"Just because you can't hold your alcohol doesn't mean I can't," Cana said with a chuckle. Lisanna went to work mixing up a drink for Cana, wondering if the alcoholic would notice if she diluted it. She immediately got to work, cooking in the back and serving drinks at the front.

It was soon approaching noon and not a single fight had broken out. It was obvious everyone was on their best behavior and she knew why. Though, there were two people she knew that would break the peace without a second thought.

She loaded up a tray and headed out onto the open floor, handing out the orders. She had just sent out the last order when the guild hall doors opened up. The midday sun poured in behind Gray Fullbuster as he stepped into the guild hall.

"We're back," he said coolly with a smile, paper in hand. "Mark this as done; mission accomplished." Lisanna took the paper, took a glance at it, and slid it under her serving tray. It was probably a last-minute job to show his dedication.

"You hungry?" she asked, taking out a notebook and scribbling something down. "You want me to make anything."

"I'll be fine," Gray said, taking a seat at the table. He leaned back to relax but then noticed Lisanna still standing in front of him. "What?" he asked.

"You forgetting something?"

Gray stared at the petite girl, not sure what she could mean.

"I don't think so," he replied, trying to figure out what he could've forgotten. "What'd I forget?"

"Well, your clothes for one," Lisanna replied. Gray looked down and he leapt up in surprise. He had walked all the way here in his boxers.

"I must've left it back at the hotel!" he groaned. Shedding his clothes may have been a habit but remembering to pick them back up was not. "Oh well," he said dismissively. "I don't wear those clothes much anyways."

"You don't wear any clothes much at all," Lisanna Strauss remarked, heading for the bar with the tray in her hand. She put the tray away and marked down the mission Gray had just completed. "I thought your partner would be with you."

"She's not far behind," Gray replied lazily, glancing at the door. "In fact, that should be her right now." Gray may not have minded her since they had been working together for the past year but she still maintained her fearsome reputation because of her skill and no-nonsense attitude. Her reputation may have proceeded her but thanks to the new way she conducts herself, no one ever notices her until it was too late. No one knew she was coming until she was already in the guild hall.

Everyone in the guild fell silent and turned to look at the hooded figure that stepped out of the sun. Clad in oily black armor, the dark figure stood out like a shadow in the brightly lit guild, streaks of red running down their gauntlets, which had a set of bladed fins protruding from its side. Her knee-length navy-blue skirt gently waved in the autumn wind. Even on the wood floor, her boots barely made any noise.

"Hey, welcome back, Erza," Lisanna greeted as the figure reached up and lowered her hood, crimson hair flowing free at last. She looked around the guild as if to evaluate each member. There was a time when she would scold them for any sort of misbehavior but it's been a year since she last did that. By this point she didn't seem to care.

"Good to see that the guild is still in one piece," Erza said, walking up to the bar counter. It was no question what Erza wanted. Lisanna quickly disappeared into the backroom and came back out with a platter of strawberry cake.

"You two were gone for a while," Lisanna remarked, setting Erza's snack down. "Job must've been a tough one."

"The town simply asked for help taking down a dark guild that's been plaguing them."

"I heard Master considered moving that job to the S-Class board because of how many wizards failed it over the past three months."

"I would consider it more time consuming than difficult," Erza replied. "When it became obvious brute force could not solve the problem, we infiltrated the town spent the next several days taking down their most powerful wizards one by one. Once that was done, the rest of the guild fled."

"Guess I should include your name on this mission," Lisanna said as she wrote everything down in the record book. Erza slid back her the now empty plate.

"Where is Master Makaraov?" the scarlet witch asked.

Lisanna was about to answer but someone else beat her to the punch.

"Oh, he's upstairs preparing the results," a voice from the second floor said. "If you hurry you might be able to actually learn what's going on." Erza's calm demeanor vanished, replaced by irritation as she stepped back to face the person talking. From the balcony of the second floor, a young woman stepped up to the railing, donned in a skimpy black spaghetti strap that left an open midriff and purple short shorts with a skull on her belt, her flowing white hair held up by a dark red ribbon. She folded her hands across her chest, sneering at the red head below.

"Mira," Erza smirked. "Sad to see you still around."

"Today _is_ the big day, so I decided to help the master instead of go out and play," Mirajane responded. "What's your excuse?"

"I _was_ going to do a few jobs around the town but I changed my mind so I came back to help the guild," Erza explained.

"You changed your mind? Your new one work better? It's fine. I understand: you thought it was more important to spend time with your boyfriend than help the Master."

Lisanna could tell Erza was doing everything she could to keep her cool. She despised it when people referred to Gray as her boyfriend. She and Gray had always been childhood friends and they had been partners for the past year so they had gotten pretty close. Still, if anyone wanted a good thrashing, just refer to Gray as Erza's boyfriend while she was around.

"Oh, don't worry, Mira," Erza mocked. "I'm sure you'll find a man who's good looking, smart, and cultured. Opposites attract, after all."

Lisanna sighed and continued her bar work as the two ladies continued hurling insults at each other. Everyone else may have been on their best behavior but these two didn't have reason to. She was glad that hadn't come to blows yet or the guild hall would be wrecked.

"Tell you what," Erza said. "I'll go up there to help Master Makarov and we can continue this later." The red head stormed up the stairs, fire in her eyes. Lisanna could hear the two walk off, silence falling upon the guild once again. Looking across the hall, it looked like everyone had taken cover. If they hear an explosion upstairs, they'll know what it's from.

"If there's ever a market for stupidity, I call drilling rights to both their heads," Lisanna sighed, handing Happy a plate of fish.

-.-

The clock hadn't even struck noon and everyone in the guild was gathered in front of the second-floor balcony, eagerly awaiting the announcement. Gray had gotten a blue T-shirt and white long coat to wear since he lost his other shirt. Lisanna was also on the open floor, eagerly waiting for the announcement. Just about everyone had come back to the hall to hear it. Alzack and Bisca were near the front, standing next to each other. Laki had wood-made a stool to stand on. Cana wasn't at the bar anymore but she still had a beer keg right beside her.

Finally, a bell toll could be heard across town as the clock finally struck noon.

They all fell silent as Titania Erza emerged out of the shadows and stepped up to the railing, her serious expression stiffer than stone. Then, Mirajane stepped out, her hands still folded across her chest, an amused smirk on her face. Finally, a familiar blonde stepped to the front, a bolt-shaped scar over his right eye, his fur long coat hanging from his shoulders like a cape.

"Laxus?" Gray muttered, noting the blonde man's bored expression. "What's he doing here?"

Three of Fairy Tail's elite were gathered in one place. Finally, a stout old man in an orange jester outfit leapt onto the wood rail.

"In accordance to the Fairy Tail Guild's time honored tradition," Master Makarov announced. "I will now announce this year's entrance for the S-Class Wizard promotion trial!" Cheered erupted across the hall at the news. "The Trial this year will be taking place on the Warlaw Archipelago. Your strengths, your characters, and your hearts; these are what I took into consideration when choosing these eight participants."

Everyone in the room leaned forward, all of them hoping their name will be called. Erza, Laxus, Mirajane, everyone knew the names of the guild's S-Class wizards and for good reason. It was the highest honor that could be bestowed upon any of them.

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Gray smiled at the sound of his name.

"It's my turn now," he said, glancing at Erza on the balcony. She wasn't looking at him directly but she smiled when she heard his name called.

"Cana Alberona!"

"I'm not letting it slip through my fingers this time," Cana said, her fist clenching.

"Alzack Connel!"

Alzack twirled his revolvers, glancing at Bisca with a smile.

"Go get 'em, cowboy," she said with a wink.

"Lisanna Strauss!"

"Yeah!" Happy cheered, high-fiving Lisanna.

"Looks like our work paid off," she said. Most of the wizards in Fairy Tail dream about being picked for the S-Class Trials and she made it. There was a time she didn't really care about something like this. One year ago, she was perfectly fine with taking her time to reach that rank. But for the past year, nothing was going to stand in her way of reaching S-Class.

Makarov continued announcing wizards until eight wizards had been chosen.

"Each participant will need to pick a partner to complete the trials with. Together you will face challenges that will test the strength of your magic, spirit, and mind. All eight participants and their partners are to meet at the Port of Hargeon at the end of the week!"

With all the announcements made, the crowd began to disperse as the chosen participants began choosing partners. Alzack's partner was obvious.

"He _loves_ you!" Happy sang the moment Alzack chose Bisca as his partner, blushes coming from both of them.

It didn't surprise Lisanna that Gray had made it into the S-Class trials. Ever since he partnered up with Erza, Gray's learned a lot from her. Gray had already worked out a deal with Loke. It broke his fangirls' hearts that he had to leave but he agreed to assist Gray. Gray turned to watch as Erza walked down the stairs with a proud smile on her face.

"Just to be clear," she said when she reached the bottom. "Though we may be partners, I won't take it easy on you during the trials."

"I guess that means you'll be part of the trials then?" Gray commented. Erza's mischievous grin didn't leave her lips.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Lisanna was in earshot when Erza said this. She could only imagine the cogs turning inside Erza's head. Mira may have been the She-Devil but Erza still had her own sadistic side.

Erza and Mira exchanged dirty glances as the goth came down from the second floor. The eldest Strauss went up to her little sister, who was having her own little celebration with Happy.

"Nice job, little sis," Mira said as Happy gave Lisanna another high five. "Looks like that hard work paid off." Lisanna had to credit Mira for getting her this far. Having an older sister as an S-Class was a huge help when it came to training. Especially since she wanted to get as strong as possible as fast as possible.

"Hey, Mira, do you know where Elfman is?" Lisanna asked. "I was hoping he's be able to make it today." Right on cue, they heard the guild hall doors open and team Shadow Gear rushed in.

"I hope we're not too late!" Levy McGarden cried out as she and her team raced inside. Jet probably could have made it in time but there was no way for Droy or the newest member of their team to make it.

"Sorry, Levy," Macao said to the young girl, patting her hand on her shoulder. Immediately, her two personal cheerleaders went to work comforting her.

"Hey, big brother Elf!" Lisanna greeted as a slender man stepped out of the crowd. He straightened his clothes and red bow tie. The run back to the guild had messed up his blue suit.

"Looks like Shadow Gear's kept you busy," Mira remarked at Elfman's shambled state. "Anyone there I should take care of?" Elfman scratched his back nervously. Shadow Gear's been great to him. With how terrified he is of his power nowadays, he fit right in. Lisanna knew Elfman used to always want to be the 'man' of the family. But he had given up on the dream. He could only transform one arm but he had come along with matching brain with his brawn.

"Hey, nice job getting chosen for S-Class," Elfman said to his younger sister timidly.

"I still need to finish the trial," Lisanna pointed out. "Hey, mind tending the bar while I'm gone?" He didn't brag much about it but Elfman was a pretty good cook.

"I guess I'll do my best," Elfman said with a grin. He then looked at the floor glumly, bummed that now his older _and_ younger sisters were stronger than him.

"Hey, cheer up! I'm sure you'll get picked soon."

"You know who you're going to pick for your partner?" Mira asked. They didn't want to say it but neither of them would pick Elfman for anything that might involve fighting. Though that did leave the rest of the guild to choose from.

"Happy, of course!" she said cheerfully as the blue cat leapt onto her shoulder with an excited 'Aye!'.

Mira felt her face sag at this news. Of all the partners she could have chosen she chose the talking cat. Then again, this was the girl who transformed into purple bunnies and giant penguins in a fight.

-.-

It's funny how time passes when you're desperate to get something done before a deadline. After a week of practice, the time had come. They had all gathered on the ship and were on their way to Warlaw.

Gray was at the stem of the ship, watching the ocean waves. He could feel the rippling water raise and lower the ship as it sailed across the water, the sea winds blowing through the tails of his white long coat.

"So have you ever heard of this place?" he asked his partner, Loke. The wizard playboy was tagging along in his signature green coat, rings on his fingers for his magic.

"Not much I'm afraid," he replied as the landmass came into sight. They were headed for the largest island in the archipelago, which looked like it had an active volcano. "I hear this place used to be a popular vacation spot but then they discovered the volcano wasn't dormant so they all left." He looked back at Gray to find the ice-make wizard already topless. "How in the world do you do that so fast?"

"Do what?"

-.-

From the stern, Bisca was examining the island through the scope of her sniper rifle, watching the column of black smoke billow into the air. Alzack was next to her. He didn't have a scope but he could still observe the giant landmass.

"If the volcano's active, are we sure this is a safe place to have the trials?" Bisca wondered aloud.

Questions were going to have to be saved for later. The sound of a throat being cleared attracted the attention of the sixteen mages on the boat. Correction. Fifteen mages and a talking cat. They all turned to face Master Makarov, who stepped out of the captain's cabin.

"Alright, listen up!" he announced. "Each island in the archipelago will hold a challenge that you and your partner will need to overcome. Teams that manage to overcome their challenge can continue to the next island." Everyone on the boat leaned forward eagerly as a piece of paper materialized next to the guild master. Alzack and Bisca quickly climbed down the stairs so they could also see what's on the parchment. "Each team will take one of the eight available paths which will lead to one of the challenges. Three of the routes will lead to combat trials where you will take on one of the guild's S-Class Wizards. They will decide whether or not you pass, depending on your performance." Gray could see the three faces along the combat routes: Erza, Mirajane, and Laxus. He knew that whoever went down any of these was screwed. He really doubted Laxus would classify anyone as worthy of passing unless they beat him. Mira would relish judging her opponent harshly. And Erza would hold her opponent to some absurdly high standards. "Noncombat trials is where two teams will face each other not in a battle of strength but a battle of wit. Overcome your puzzle before your opponent to pass."

"Sounds like I have the right partner for that," Loke said to Gray, who could only grin at the challenge.

"Battle of wits?" Gray repeated. "I feel bad for fighting the unarmed."

"What about this eighth route?" Cana asked, noting the route that had a question mark on it. Everyone on the ship paled when a wicked smile spread across Gramps' lips.

"It wasn't easy but I have managed to get a very special guest to join us for this trial," he chuckled. "Whoever goes down this route will have to face him in combat."

This time, people didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified.

"Who do you think it could be?" Happy whispered to Lisanna. The girl could only shrug.

"Gildarts maybe?" she suggested. "He might've come back from his job early."

"Maybe Master Makarov's going to be there!" Happy suggested excitedly. Lisanna could only hope one of these were true. Makarov and Gildards would be the toughest but at least they'd be a lot more forgiving than the other three options.

"Now!" Makarov boomed. "Head toward the smoke rising near the coast and let the trials…begin!"

Immediately, everyone made a break for the island. Gray and Loke leapt over the edge of the boat, a bridge of ice forming under their feet. They began skating across the ice but Gray paused when he heard an extra set of feet hit the ice behind him.

"Sorry, Lisanna," Gray said as the ice beneath the girl's feet suddenly vanished and she plunged into the ocean. "No stowaways!" Happy giggled as the girl emerged from the water, watching as Gray and Loke skated away, the ice bridge vanishing behind them so no one else could use it.

"Guess I'll do things the old-fashioned way," she said. Light engulfed her body, a fish with white hair and a scarf emerging and swimming for the island with Happy flying above it.

As Laki leapt over the side of the ship, a wooden raft materialized right beneath her. The moment Cana landed on the raft she quickly pulled out a set of cards and summoned a jet stream of water behind the raft.

Whether it was flying, swimming, boating, or riding on things that could fly, everyone raced for the island to get first picks.

Soon it was just Alzack and Bisca left standing on deck, staring at the island.

"I guess we should start swimming," Bisca sighed.

-.-

Reaching the source of the smoke signal was easy. Picking a route…not so much. Gray and Loke were the first to make it so all eight routes were open.

"So which way you want to go?" Loke asked, looking at the eight paths available.

"Five of the paths go into caves," Gray observed. "The other three go into the forest. I guess it all depends on which one we want to try to get. At least one of the forest routes and one cave route leads to combat trials and two of the cave routes lead to noncombat trials."

"How do you figure that?"

"I'm mostly guessing but Gramps said the noncombat trials were a battle of wits, two teams racing to solve a puzzle," Gray explained. "I imagine it'd be pretty hard to compete if one team's above the ground and the other is below. Like I said, I'm mostly guessing here. They might have a grate in the ceiling or something."

"Ok, let's pretend that you're right and the teams that compete in noncombat trials have to take the same type of path," Loke said. "What does that mean for us?"

"It means that either two of the three forest paths and two of the five cave paths lead to noncombat challenges or four of the cave paths are the noncombat challenges and all three forest routes lead to combat challenges. Meaning we're probably more likely to end up in a noncombat challenge if we go through the caves."

"Something else we should consider," Loke pointed out. "If the caves have a combat challenge and we go against someone like Mirajane or Laxus, we're going to need as much room as possible to maneuver."

"Then I think we should take a forest path," Gray concluded. "I've seen the other teams; I'm pretty sure we can take them on in a battle of wits. We're more likely to get a noncombat challenge if we go into the caves but if we're wrong it's more punishing. If the forest path we take leads to a noncombat trial, we beat the other team and move on. If we end up facing Laxus or someone like that, we at least have a fighting chance."

"Sounds good to me," Loke said. With everything planned out, the two raced down the path into the forest, a magical barrier forming behind them.

-.-

Alzack stared at the ground glumly. He and Bisca had to swim so they were the last to arrive on the island. He knew that for a fact because only one route, into a cave, was left.

"Hey," Bisca said, giving Alzack a nudge. "Relax. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could end up fighting Mirajane," Alzack immediately replied. Bisca wanted to say something optimistic but Alzack was right. If they ended up facing one of the S-Class wizards, they were toast.

-.-

Lisanna's footsteps echoed through the stone walls of the cave she was in. This then gave her an idea. With a flash of light, she changed into a purple bunny, paused, then returned to her human form and continued walking.

"We must be on the puzzle path," she concluded.

"How can you tell?" Happy asked, walking up behind her.

"Bunnies have excellent hearing," Lisanna explained, rounding the corner. "It's just one of the ways they avoid predators. I don't hear anyone so that must mean that we're the only ones in this cave." She walked around the massive stalagmite and froze in her tracks. Happy also turned around the stone pillar and did the same.

"Uh, Lisanna…I think you need your ears checked," Happy remarked. Before them stood a black cloaked figure, his face hidden under a gray and green mask so that even his eyes could hardly be seen. A bundle of wooden staves hung from his back, an extra stave in his right hand.

"Wait a minute," Lisanna stuttered upon seeing the strange man. "Who's this guy?"

"Lisanna, I think that's Mystogan!" Happy cried out. Lisanna felt the blood drain from her face. Erza and Mira were scary enough but this guy was often compared to Laxus in terms of power. Worse, she had never seen his magic before. She had no idea what he was capable of.

"Welcome," Mystogan greeted with an eerie calmness. "Your opponent for the first part of the trial will be me. I will be the one that decides whether you pass."

Lisanna glanced behind her when she heard the sound of cloth being dragged across the cave floor.

"Happy, what're you doing?" she asked she spotted the blue cat pulling their bags back to the cave entrance.

"Figured we might as well head home," he said.

"Don't worry, Happy," Lisanna said, getting into a fighting stance. "I got this."

-.-

The orange leaves falling from the trees matted the ground, crunching beneath Gray's and Loke's feet.

"I would've thought we'd find the challenge by now," Loke said, looking around. He had his hand on the rings on his fingers, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. Gray took another step then stopped in his tracks.

"Found it," he said, looking at the figure ahead. It looked like they had chosen poorly. Their challenger for this trial was:

"Erza!" Loke gasped when he spotted the scarlet witch in her black wing armor. Erza might've lacked a sense of humor but she definitely had a sense of fashion. Her black wing armor, like most of the other armors she could call upon, danced on the line between sexy and practical with much of chest and belly open to the elements. The blades on her gauntlets now had the same red membrane her bat-like wings had.

Erza smiled when she saw who her opponents were.

"I was hoping it was you I would run into, Gray," she said, taking out a black sword. "Now show me what you can do." Working with Erza may have helped him to become stronger but he still doubted he could even take her on let alone beat her.

"You ready, buddy?" Gray asked Loke as Erza spread her black bat wings.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

It was time for her to see just how powerful her partner was. There was a boom as she launched herself into the air, a trail of dirt picked up by her sudden flight.

 _"Ice-make: Shield!"_

A large disk of ice formed in Gray's hand as daggers came raining from the sky. It was frightening how quickly Erza could learn a skill. In one year's time, she learned how to hurl knives hidden up her sleeves. They were in her sleeve her for easy access and in case she ever ran low on magic energy. If she ran out, she need only to requip more throwing knives into her hand. Any time in a fight, she would rain throwing knives if there was ever distance between her and an enemy.

 _"Twister!"_ Loke shouted, a wind storm flying from his ring and engulfing Erza. But the witch dove to the ground, pulling up at the last moment and streaking toward the two wizards like a hawk coming for its prey. Gray stepped forward, ready to engage. But before she could reach him, the ground seemed explode into a cloud of smoke. Gray wasn't fazed by this smoke bomb. He knew how far Erza was and he knew how fast she was moving. With that, he could predict when to attack.

 _"Ice-make: Lance!"_

Spears of ice flew from Gray's palm. If he was right, she would only have a half a second to react. This had to get her.

Gray whipped around when he heard Loke yell in shock, watching as Erza suddenly emerged from the smoke behind them. In a single move, she had kicked Loke aside and punched Gray out of the smoke cloud.

"Anticipating your enemy's movements is one thing," Erza said, landing in front of Gray. "But never overcommit yourself to countering it in case you're wrong."

With a single flap of her wings, she launched herself at Gray. He just barely managed to block her black sword with his ice one. He was about to counter her when she suddenly launched herself up and flew to the other side of him. Gray found himself tumbling across the ground after taking a kick to the back of his head.

 _"Ground shatter!"_ Loke shouted, punching the dirt with his fist, veins of magic shooting through the ground at Erza. She took off again, throwing knives in between her fingers. With a single fling of her hand, a flurry of knives flew forth like a hail storm of blades. Loke formed a shield with his ring, a large magical circle that blocked the rain of knives. The ones that would've met their mark hit the magic circle and bounced off harmlessly while the rest hit the ground around him, dirt thrown up by the sheer force of the impact. She flung another flurry, forcing Loke to his knees.

Erza was about to throw another flurry when she spotted a tower of ice rising into the air, Gray Fullbuster standing at the top of it. He leapt off the tower, ready to strike from above

 _"Ice-Make: Hammer!"_

Erza blocked the blunt weapon with her black sword but Gray immediately let go of it and tackled her out of the air and putting her in a tight bearhug, making sure his arms grabbed at least one wing. Unable to stay in the air, they both plummeted to the ground. After a moment of struggling she managed to shove Gray away and land on the ground with cat-like agility while the ice-make wizard landed like a rock.

Erza was about to take off again but she barely got a foot off the ground before crashing back down. She could tell something was off. Her body felt heavier than usual. It was then she realized her left wing was encased in ice. She probably could've just chipped it away if it was normal ice. But Gray's ice could make swords and axes. They could be as hard as steel which meant she couldn't just shatter the ice.

"Looks like I managed to pull it off," Gray chuckled, brushing off the dirt off his chest. "Kinda hard to fly around with one wing. The reason you wear that armor is for agility and air superiority. You lose both if you can't fly."

Erza smiled at this. It was good to see that Gray was still able to surprise her. She could ask him to get the ice off of it for her later. For now, she needed a new suit. Her body began to glow as her black wing armor vanished and a new one took its place. It was a little more covering as the white crystal-like curiass only left a bare midriff and open back. Spikes protruded from her pauldrons, a fur hood lowered behind her head. Both her gauntlets and greaves were a smooth silvery metal and the fins that extended from the former looked like icicles. Snow seemed to sparkle off the white cloth that made her long skirt.

"Frost Empress Armor?" Gray chuckled as Loke walked up beside him.

"What does that mean for us?" Loke asked.

"At least she can't fly anymore but she's resistant to snow and ice magic."

"Let's see what you will do when your magic has no effect on me," Erza said, tossing her ponytail back and pointing at him with her rapier. "I actually got this armor in case we got the opportunity to face each other."

"I'm flattered you'd do all this for me but I think you actually made things easier," Gray said, smashing his fist against his open palm.

"What the?!" Loke called out as the ground beneath him began to shift and something appeared beneath him.

 _"Ice-make: catapult!"_

There was a boom as the ice catapult launched the orange-haired wizard at Erza. With a wave of her rapier, Loke, or rather the ice cube that now held Loke, hit the ground. She turned to face Gray, who had summoned two more catapults that immediately fired. The flying boulders exploded into dust as they hit their mark.

"If I can't hit you with ice, I'm just going to hit you with everything that isn't ice."

Just as he said that, the dust cloud parted and Erza came sliding through, her rapier freezing the ground in front of her as she skated across it and right for him.

"Uh oh."

-.-

Alzack and Bisca were out of luck. First they got left behind on the boat. Now, it seems they were trapped in a cavern with Cana and Laki. The two teams looked at each other, a magical barrier being the only thing separating them.

They both jumped back when the sound of scraping stone began reverberating through the chamber. Behind the each of the two teams formed a door and three gargoyles.

 _"Welcome."_

"That's just creepy," Cana grimaced as the gargoyles spoke, their eyes glowing as they talked.

 _"We shall test not the power of your magic but the power of your mind. Beside the magical barrier are three gems. Give the red gem to the gargoyle that speaks nothing but truths. Give the blue gem to the one that tells only lies. Give the green gem to the gargoyle who answers randomly. Once that is done, you may pass through the door. Be warned: the door will only let you continue if you give us the correct gems. Displease us by giving the wrong ones and the door will lead to your automatic elimination. You may ask us three yes or no questions, each addressed to one gargoyle, to deduct which gargoyle is which."_

Cana looked at Laki eagerly when she heard this.

"Doesn't sound that hard!" Alberona said. She could already remember a similar riddle involving two statues and two doors where the person could only ask one question. Now they could ask three.

 _"However, when you ask your question we shall only answer 'tee' or 'haa'. Good luck."_

The six gargoyles fell silent, leaving the teams to think about the riddle.

"What does that mean?" Bisca wondered out loud.

"It means either 'tee' or 'haa' means 'yes' and the other means 'no'," Alzack deducted.

"But we don't know which means which," Cana added. She was originally glad that they managed to avoid fighting the S-Class wizards but now she was beginning to feel that these challenges weren't any better.

"Three gargoyles," Bisca muttered. "One only tells the truth. One only lies. And one will answer randomly. We can ask three yes or no questions but they can only be addressed to one gargoyle and when they answer, we won't be able to tell if they're saying 'yes' or 'no'."

"And our goal is to find out which gargoyle is which."

Bisca looked back when she heard scratching behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asked Alzack, who had begun rubbing two sticks together.

"Making a campfire," he said. "We're probably going to be here a while."

-.-

Lisanna stared at the cloaked figure, not sure what to do. Her animal senses have never been wrong before. Did she make a mistake? No. There was something off about Mystogan. Even in human form it was as if he didn't exist. They were in a cave so every noise they made echoed through the chamber. But when Mystogan talked, it didn't echo at all. It was if he wasn't even there.

"Why do you hesitate?" Mystogan asked. "It's been several minutes and you have done nothing."

"Sorry, but I'm not going to rush a wizard if I don't know anything about what he can do," she said. She wished she could see Mystogan's expression. Even his eyes were obscured by his mask.

"Caution against an unknown enemy is wise," Mystogan stated. "Inaction is not."

"Lisanna, above you!" Happy called out. Lisanna looked up as a column of light came down on top of her, a stack of magic circles spinning above her. Her eyes widened in shock. Mystogan must've put those above her while she wasn't paying attention.

 _"Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song"_

 _"Take-Over!"_

Lisanna took flight, her arms turning into bird wings, just as the ground she had just been standing on exploded. She might've gotten away but the pressure wave from the blast still knocked her off course and she nearly flew into a wall. But she recovered and began circling in the air near the top of cavern. After a moment, she swooped down, her feet transforming into talons. She swooped past the hooded figure, a claw full of black cloth. She flew back up and circled a few more times before divebombing him again. Once again, Mystogan simply stepped to the side and let her fly past. This was clearly not working. Time for a change of tactic.

She swooped down, her talons extended. But she suddenly pulled herself up so that she flew over the hooded figure.

 _"Take-Over: Penguin!"_

A massive penguin fell from the sky. A penguin wasn't exactly something that could fight but it was durable and, above all else, heavy. She felt the rock floor beneath her crack under her weight. If anything, she was worried that she might have overdone it and crushed Mystogan. But as she returned to her human form, she realized there was nothing beneath her. She looked around in panic, spotting Mystogan a few feet away. He was under her when she hit the ground; she was sure of it. It was as if he teleported away. It didn't matter though. Mystogan was managing to take her on by standing still.

 _"Take-Over!"_

Lisanna transformed again, a massive purple bunny launching itself at Mystogan. With her size, weight, and durability, she could blast through concrete with the force of a cannon.

Mystogan planted his stave into the stone floor. He was going to need two hands for this one.

 _"Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water."_

Even in midair, Lisanna could see the magic circles for in front of the S-Class wizard's hands. She felt confident about this one. If it was an attack, he was too late. If it was a shield, then he wouldn't take any damage but neither would she.

Her head impacted the magic circle and she screamed as she was thrown backwards. Mystogan's three layered magic circle didn't create a shield that blocks attacks. It created a barrier that reflected attacks. Projectiles and spells are launched back at the caster. In Lisanna's case, she _was_ the projectile and every ounce of energy her attack packed was sent back into her.

"Your timing is off," Mystogan stated. "Launching at that distance will give your opponent time to react to your attack."

Lisanna got back to her feet. Mystogan's been able to evade and counter every attack she threw. But these were slow, heavy attacks. Lisanna knew it was time for a change of tactics and she knew the animal soul to use.

She formed her bird wings and lunged at the hooded man. But just as she got close, she changed again.

 _"Take-Over: Tiger!"_

A clawed hand came down on Mystogan but it cut through nothing but air. She expected this. Mystogan was walking backwards as she kept slashing at him. He stepped to the side when she lunged past but kept evading her every attack. Finally, her claw came down and it hit wood. Her claws were now embedded in his stave. He had decided it was time to make his move.

Lisanna was about to strike again but in a single motion he blocked her claw and cracked his wooden stave over her head. He effortlessly parried her strikes before striking back, her body pummeled by his staff. He finally kicked her back, knocking the girl to the floor.

"Your hand to hand skills have greatly improved," Mystogan noted, planting his staff into the ground. "That combined with the increase in speed and agility you receive from that particular form, your offense is nearly doubled. But you lack any defense due to your lack of armor and…questionable choice of attire."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Lisanna barked back. Happy was rolling on the floor laughing at Mystogan's slight at her. Whenever Lisanna used her tiger-soul she is garbed in a tiger-skin two pieced bikini but with what Erza sometimes wears for armor, what Mira wears with her Satan soul, and Gray's stripping habit, she never thought twice about her clothes.

She lunged at her opponent, claw high in the air. She had one more trick up her sleeve. Mystogan effortlessly blocked the attack but just as he prepared to strike back her body began to glow.

 _"Take-Over: Penguin!"_

The massive penguin form burst from her body, her size tripled in a faction of a second. She could hear Mystogan's grunt of pain as it launched him backwards. Happy was speechless. She actually managed to land a hit.

Once he had come to a stop, Mystogan stood up and began brushing off the dust thrown onto his clothes.

"You've improved a lot but I'm afraid I must end this," Mystogan said, planting his stave into the ground. He placed his hands together, the tips of his pointer fingers meeting at the top, then pointed at the girl. Lisanna watched as beams of magical energy erupted from the floor, into the air, and down upon her. She quickly turned into a bird and tried to take off but it was too late. She screamed as the air around her exploded, the magical energy surging through her body like electricity. She hadn't even fallen back to the ground when Mystogan burst through the dust cloud and landed a punch against her stomach, launching her across the cave. As she tumbled through the air, she spotted what had formed in front of her: a three-layered magic circle. She hit the magic circle and felt all her kinetic energy sent back into her body. The circle shot her across the ground, her bird form failing and transforming her back into a human as she landed on her back and skidded to a halt. She opened her eyes and saw a stack of magic circles rotating above her.

 _"Five-Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song."_

Happy watched as Lisanna was engulfed by the fireball. When the flames subsided and the smoke cleared, Lisanna was on one knee, battered and bruised. She had suspected it before but this just confirmed it: he had been taking it easy on her this entire time. In just five seconds, Mystogan used both his magic and his martial arts to beat her senseless.

"I heard about how much you improved over the past year," he said, speaking as if he was waking up from a nap. "While both your current skill level and how far you've come is impressive, I'm afraid I cannot pass you."

"And why not?" Lisanna barked, getting to her feet. "If I have to beat you to pass then I can keep going. I'll keep fighting until one of us keels over."

"That is not the issue, Lisanna Strauss," Mystogan said, pulling his stave from the ground. She may have been frustrated by this result but Mystogan remained calm. "Becoming an S-Class wizard is not just a badge of pride but target on your back. Many dark wizards would relish the opportunity to defeat an S-Class, wizards who are more powerful than you can imagine. You have become a force to be reckoned with but you have one weakness I fear may be exploited."

"Yeah? And what's that?" Mystogan glanced back at her but didn't answer. He began walking away. "I want to be an S-Class wizard!" Lisanna called to him. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get there. How can I fix a weakness I don't know anything about?!" The hooded man paused at these words. "Let's keep fighting," she insisted. "But I want you to use that weakness you talked about to take me down. Show me what I need to change."

Mystogan turned around to face the young girl.

"Very well," he said, planting his stave into the ground. Lisanna took a step forward and got ready to change into an animal form. She had to see what was going to be thrown at her before she could decide on an animal-soul to use.

 _"Skyscraper."_

Lisanna felt the ground rumble beneath her feet. It was as if something was under them, struggling to get out. Finally, the ground behind Mystogan burst open, a massive red beast crawling from the hole, golden horns crowning its head, a gaping maw of teeth. Lisanna felt her heart stop when she realized it was _the_ Beast. It was the monster her family faced one year ago. Her older brother took over its body but nearly lost himself in the attempt. Mystogan had somehow summoned it, its every footstep shaking the trees of the forest that surrounded them. Lisanna took a step back, trying think of an animal-soul she could use against this monstrosity, her arms to the side to protect her sister behind her. Why was she thinking of fighting? That was her older brother. He was trapped in there somewhere. She had to save him before he loses his mind.

"What are you doing?!" Mira called from behind her as Lisanna stepped forward. If things went wrong, she was ready to turn into a bird and fly away. But she had to try getting her brother back.

"Big Brother Elf?" Lisanna said. "You feeling ok? It's me, Lisanna. Our big sister, Mira, is here too." Her words must be getting to him. The creature had stopped in its tracks, looking down on her. Its breathing slowed, no longer the raving beast it was just a few moments ago. Lisanna relaxed a bit when she saw this. It was working. "We're a family. When times are tough, we pull together and work things out." She opened her arms as if welcome him in for a hug. "Don't be afraid, Big Brother. We still love you."

The Beast's body began to glow, its limbs frozen in place. The Strauss sisters watched as the golden form shrunk. The light died down until they saw a beaten and bruised Elfman laying sprawled out in one of the Beast's footprints. Lisanna rushed forward to help her older brother. The beating he had taken had nearly brought him to his senses and Lisanna's words did the rest.

"You ok, big brother Elf?" she asked as he weakly opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed, tears forming. "I was just trying to protect you two."

"I know."

Lisanna may have been relieved but Mira was still panicked, stumbling to her older brother.

"Elfman," Mirajane stuttered. "Where's Natsu?!"

Mira's questions chilled Lisanna to the bone. The Fire Dragon Slayer had come along to help. He and Mira had both gone to face the Beast while she went to evacuate the town.

They found his broken body nearby, barely alive. The combined attacks of Mira and Natsu had weakened the Beast's enough that Elfman was able to overcome it, but Natsu had been mortally wounded in the process. Lisanna refused to leave his side, holding onto him even after he started glowing and floated into the air. She grabbed his scarf in a desperate attempt to bring him back but she helplessly watched as the rest of his body vanished, his scarf falling back into her hands.

Skyscraper: the illusion spell. Its victim would see something that they feared. It was different for every target but it was always something that would terrify them. Some would figure it out but when they break the spell they can barely fight. But, even when the illusion faded, Lisanna fell to her knees, her hand on her face as she tried to hold in her tears.

Happy wasn't struck by the spell. Lisanna may have spent half an hour in the illusion, watching the most painful moment of her life, but barely a second had actually passed. Happy only saw Mystogan cast his spell and Lisanna immediately broke down sobbing.

"When he died, his obsession became yours," Mystogan said. "His quest to become strong was what inspired you to begin your quest. You wanted to become strong in honor of Natsu. You wanted to become strong to find Igneel, to travel the country to find his father in his place. Most of all: you wanted to become strong because you felt the only reason he died was because you were not strong enough to help him."

"He's not dead!" Lisanna said stubbornly, her hands clenching into fists. She refused to accept it. After being inseparable for over five years, she refused to believe it could end that way. He had become a part of her life. She couldn't imagine it without him. And yet, that was the reality. He had been ripped from her world. "I don't know what I saw that day but it's not what happens when people die!" Mystogan stared down at the sobbing girl.

"I know you've spent the past year investigating what you witnessed," he said. "You've traveled across the country to find out what happened. As an S-Class mage you would have access to more resources. You're hoping you can find someone who has the answers. You refuse to acknowledge him as dead because of the unnatural event that occurred. But, deep inside your heart, you fear he truly is gone."

"It's all my fault," she muttered. "Elfman didn't want him to come. If I hadn't insisted he come with us…" That day played in her head over and over again. It was just one sentence. Natsu had wanted to join them on the quest but Elfman protested against it. The only reason he had come along was because she insisted that he be allowed to come. She wanted to change that day, to go back in time and keep her mouth shut.

Mystogan fell silent once again. The girl was grieving. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better. But there was one thing he wanted to say.

"It is said that disasters such as tornadoes can have their causes traced back to the flapping wings of a bird or butterfly. You think that just by not speaking up against Elfman you could make everything better. But you have no idea what could result that single action, how different thing would be now if you hadn't."

Mystogan walked away, leaving the sobbing girl behind. Happy quickly went up to comfort her.

"Everything dies," Mystogan said as his body seemed to disappear into thin air. "But if you keep them in your heart, they will live on forever."

Lisanna looked up when she heard this. She once said this to Elfman. She glanced at the hooded man, curious how he knew about the saying, but he was already gone.

"Lisanna?" Happy said timidly, pulling on the girl's sleeves. She looked at the blue cat and picked it up, holding him in a tight embrace.

"C'mon, Happy," she said, heading for the exit that had formed in the cave wall.

-.-

"Mystogan?!" Erza exclaimed when she heard the news. She, Gray, and Loke were all waiting back at camp. After a crushing defeat, they all regrouped at the losers' camp to wait for everyone who didn't make it through the trial.

"I guess that explains who the mystery guest is," Gray said, taking a bowl of soup from Erza.

"Aye," Happy said after explaining everything to the trio. "He managed to kick Lisanna's butt in five seconds flat!"

"Five seconds?" Loke repeated. "Then why'd it take so long for you guys to join us?"

"Mystogan was really taking it easy on her for the first half of the fight."

Gray and Loke's faces sagged when Happy said that.

"Taking it easy," they both moaned, thinking about their match with Erza.

"I still can't believe Mystogan agreed to take part in the trials," Erza said. "He wasn't with the rest of us when we arrived."

"And he left after it was all over," Happy added. Before they could continue, three more figures emerged from the forest.

"Hey, guys," Mira greeted as she led the mages she just defeated to the camp. "What's up." Gray could see her opponents were even more banged up than they were. In hindsight, getting Erza was lucky for him. Even if she wanted to test him, she probably wasn't going all out. Guess she was taking it easy on him too.

"Guess that leaves Laxus," Loke said. "You think those guys stand a chance against him?"

A clap of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Nope," Gray said.

The new arrival quickly took some bowls of soup and took a moment to relax. Even Mira took a bowl. She sat at the table right next to Erza and took a sip, pausing to consider the flavor.

"Salt," she said. Erza looked at Mira in confusion. "The soup's actually not half bad. But the vegetable to spice ratio is off." Erza stepped aside to let the She-Devil work her magic, mixing in not just salt but a number of spices into the soup, and stirring it. She held the ladle up to Erza's mouth, who took a sip. The red-head's face brightened by the new flavor. Mira gave Erza wink before taking a seat to add some spice to her soup too.

"Hey, Mira, guess what!" Happy called out. "We got to face Mystogan!"

"Say what?" Mira stuttered, nearly spilling oregano into her soup.

"That's right! He kicked our butts but as it turns out, the mystery opponent Master talked about was Mystogan!" Mira took a moment to look around when she heard this. Gray and Loke were both enjoying the soup Erza had prepared. The scarlet witch was poured a bowl for Happy too.

"Hey," Mira said. "Where's Lisanna?"

-.-

From the beach, Lisanna watched the birds fly off into the distance. She needed time to think about what Mystogan said. She initially resented him for forcing her to relive her worst nightmare. But now, she was beginning to appreciate taking the time to reflect on what happened.

History changed by a single statement…

It was pretty much agreed by everyone that Natsu was the guild's heart and souls. With his brash antics, big heart, and constant quest to grow stronger, he pretty much was the embodiment of Fairy Tail. Everyone was affected by his death, some more than others. She knew Gray pretended he didn't change, but Lisanna couldn't help but notice he hadn't participated in a single guild brawl since Natsu was gone. Erza had the biggest change. She stopped cracking down on the guild's antics, only doing so in extreme situations. She also noticed her weapons and armor had also changed after Natsu's death.

Then there was her. She had been training obsessively for two years to grow stronger. Being able to train under Mira was a huge help and Gray and Erza also lent a hand.

"Hey," Mira called out. Lisanna turned around, not expecting her older sister to be there.

"What're you doing here, Mira?" Lisanna asked as the goth walked up to her little sister.

"I heard about what Mystogan did," Mirajane said. "My fist has a few things to say to that hooded freak when I see him."

"It's fine, Mira. He only did it because I asked him to." Lisanna fell silent again. But then she thought of something she wanted to ask. "Mira, what do you think would've happened if I didn't insist Natsu come with us on that mission?"

"Lisanna, I'm the reason he's dead. I asked him to fight The Beast with me while you evacuated the town."

"I think we both know that he would've insisted on fighting even if you hadn't asked." Lisanna looked back to the horizon, her eyes on the flapping wings of the birds, wondering if Mystogan was right, wondering if those flapping wings really would cause a tornado far into the future, wondering what things would be like if she had just kept her mouth shut.

Mira sat down beside her younger sister, watching the birds she was looking at fly into the distance. She always did love animals.

"Hey, if one of them lands beside you, you gonna sing a song to them?" Mira teased.

"You're not funny."

"Eh, I am to me."

-.-

For the sixteen wizards, this was a taste of what it took to become an S-Class and it was terrifying. None of the teams that faced the S-Classes passed so only two teams made it to the second round where they were eliminated.

"There's always next year!" Makarov said with a hopeful tone. He insisted it was normal for an S-Class trial to have no winners but it didn't make anyone feel better. With the trials complete, they all headed back to the guild hall.

"WE'RE HOME!"

Gray and Lisanna dove out of the way as a man came hurling toward them, hitting Mira in the face. Makarov couldn't bring himself to speak, mortified by the sight. The entire guild hall was a mess, the wizards duking it out for dominance. By the bar, Elfman had taken cover behind the counter.

"Help," he whimpered. Tables and chairs were flying in all directions, spells shooting left and right like ricocheting bullets.

The doors to the hall exploded off their hinges as Mirajane rose from the floor.

"Alright," she growled. "That's it! I saw you throw him at me!" Mira took off like a rocket after a fleeing Nab. Erza just gave a gentle chuckle at the sight.

"It's good for them to get their frustrations out once and a while," she remarked, hands on her hips. "Well, I guess it's time for us to break it up." She was about to do just that when Nab collided with her.

"That's what you get, Nab!" Mira yelled triumphantly. Little did she know…

"Watch it, you oaf!" Erza roared, flinging a screaming Nab like a spear back at Mirajane.

"Would somebody stop 'em!" Macao cried out as the S-Class witches went at it. "This is getting crazy!"

"I'll be cleaning the bar," Lisanna said, not wanting to get in all the fighting. She returned to her position, looking back at the chaos. Mystogan's words still echoed in her mind, his statement about how a little action can cause such a big change. She didn't know how life would be different if she hadn't made that one sentence but this was the hand she was dealt. It wasn't the flapping wings of a butterfly that was turning the wheels of her fate, it was the wings of a fairy.


	2. Salamander

_A/N: Hey howdie hey, guys. I guess I should've left a A/N on the first chapter._

 _You guys get a double posting today because, apparently Karine put up a chapter of her story earlier._

 _I hope you enjoy this chapter. This was a chapter I strongly considered skipping just because it covers familiar territory that I don't think would change much. For this story, I want to focus primarily on the what-if. Anyways, I hope you enjoy._

Edgar C. Clarke

 _-.-_

They were here before. She was sure of it. Erza knelt down, her fingers sliding across the dirt of the forest floor. This was one of several locations the Fairy Tail Guild could've been. She was so sure it was this location. But, there was no trace. She gritted her teeth in frustration, knowing that this had just wasted her time. Picking up her lance, she looked out across the dense underbrush. The thing about hunting prey was that the fewer there are, the harder they are to find. No matter. There was a reason they knew her as Erza Knightwalker: The Fairy Hunter.

She turned and prepared to leave but something else caught her attention. She paused, her grip tightening around her lance. She was not alone. She could sense him before she saw him: a cloaked hooded figure watching her from the underbrush.

"You can't escape from me!" she cried out, hurling her lance at the figure. With an effortless swat, the figure knocked the lance out of the air. Earth's Fairy Tail might've recognized the figure as Mystogan but as far as she was concerned, he was just an enemy. She bolted forward and caught the lance out of the air and charged at her opponent, furiously stabbing at him. Metal met wood as Mystogan blocked each of her attacks, backpedaling to avoid being overwhelmed. He might've done something similar with Lisanna back during the S-Class trials but he had done it simply to gauge her skills. Erza, on the other hand, had him on the defensive. He couldn't find an opening to cast his magic as she continued her relentless assault.

Erza was getting impatient. She was captain of the guards. Most would have fallen to her might but this hooded figure was holding his own. It was obvious he was of equal skill which meant she could only defeat him by changing her tactics.

After another stab, she abandoned her lance and dove for her opponent's feet, grabbing him by the waist and tackling him to the ground. She was about to pull a dagger from her boot but with a swing of his arm he shoved her off, quickly leaping on top of her to stop her from escaping. Erza hit the forest floor with a grunt. But when she opened her eyes, she froze.

"Jellal?!" she gasped. Mystogan turned pale with panic as he realized Erza had managed to tear off his mask in the struggle. But, after a moment, he calmed down again. There was no point in running or hiding it; she had already gotten a good look of his face. He got off her and stood up.

"You were not supposed to find out," he said as Erza sat up and handed him his mask. He glanced at her, noticing her eyes wide and her lips quivering, not sure what to say to him. Suddenly, her face stiffened and she raised her spear to Jellal's chest.

"You may be our missing prince but you chose to abandon us years ago and have even begun sabotaging our anima projects," she growled, getting back to her feet. "Regardless of our history, it is my duty to bring you in and slay you if you resist."

"Magic is a luxury," he said. "We use it for the sake of convenience. It is not necessary for our survival so we do not have the right to rob people of their lives to acquire more."

"Enough," she barked, pressing the blade of her spear against Mystogan's throat. "You abandoned your kingdom and betrayed your people."

"The girl I grew up with would know better. She would know that I am not truly betraying my kingdom."

"I am nothing like the weak girl you knew. I earned my position as captain!"

To her surprise, Jellal then took the spear and aimed the tip at the center of his throat and held it with his hand.

"Kill me then," Jellal said. Knightwalker growled at this obvious challenge. It was clear Jellal was not going to surrender. She was going to have to kill him. Though her mind screamed for her to do it, her arms refused to move. She knew she should end his life for her kingdom. But she didn't see a traitor. She saw the boy she knew since childhood. Finally, she sighed and lowered her spear.

"It's good to see some things haven't changed," he said when Erza lowered her weapon. Her weapon may have been lowered but she kept her scowl.

"So is there any reason you choose today to return?" she asked.

"I have always been capable of creating anima that I can travel through."

"Then is there any reason you choose today to show yourself?"

"Natsu Dragneel," Mystogan answered.

"Do you mean Natsu Dragion?"

"No. I am referring to his counterpart. I have reason to believe he was taken by a randomly created unstable anima. I came to ask if there have been any reports of a second Natsu in Fairy Tail?"

"Not that I've heard of," Erza replied. "It is possible he joined without us knowing but I have heard nothing about a second Natsu."

Mystogan took in this new information, picking up his stave.

"I really do regret how things turned out between us," he said, turning to leave. He was about to walk away when Erza called out to him.

"Jellal!" The hooded man paused to hear what she had to say. Apparently, she didn't know. After a moment, she finally spoke. "It was good to see you again."

"It was good to see you too, Erza."

-.-

The Fairy Tail guild was especially quiet today. Lucky for the people in the guild hall, the two biggest trouble makers were out on a job. Bad news was, they took the S-Class job together.

"Taking bets!" Lisanna announced. "Who does the most damage? Erza or Mira?" She walked around the floor with a notebook in hand, writing down the names, the amount of money, and who they were betting on. With all the destruction they were going to inevitably cause, she thought it was a good idea to turn it into something fun for everyone. She came around to Wakaba who immediately voted Mirajane. Levy was predicting Erza, and her two cheerleaders immediately agreed.

"What about you, Gray?" Happy asked as he returned to the bar counter with an empty tray. "You gonna bet on someone?" The ice-make wizard looked up from his drink.

"How exactly does she intend on finding out who did the most damage?" he asked as Lisanna returned.

"If the damage is bad, the Magic Council will give Master a report and we can find out from that," she explained. Gray paused to think about who he should bet on. He might have been biased, but he knew Erza and the sheer amount of damage she would cause.

"Gray, your clothes," Cana said as she casually walked up to the bar and made her wager. "Twenty jewel on Mira."

"Mira?" Gray repeated. "Why her?"

"She's a demon that shoots exploding energy balls. Why not her?"

"Mostly because she actually looks where's she's throwing those things. Erza might be good with a sword but, I swear, she never looks where's she's swinging. Honestly, if there's only one bad guy, is it really necessary for her to throw twenty exploding throwing knives? What're you looking at me like that for?"

Both Lisanna's and Cana's face were glowing with anticipation as they surrounded Gray Fullbuster.

"Sounds like you two got some unresolved issues?" Cana teased.

"Anything you'd like to share?" Lisanna giggled.

"He _loves_ her," Happy sang.

"You people are taking this joke way too far," Gray said, getting up from his stool, leaving the trio laughing at the premise. They two girls gave each other a fist bump as Gray found another seat. Lisanna went back to the bar, where her older brother sat.

"Light reading, big bro?" Lisanna asked, glancing at the book.

"I'm hoping this could help my take-overs," he quickly explained, his eyes glued to the page. Lisanna could not help but shrug at that. She didn't care for books. She predicted she would last five minutes before her attention waned.

"Hey, Lisanna."

The young girl looked up at her name being called.

"What is it, Macao?" she asks. She thought the man had just taken a job to the east. She didn't think he'd be back so soon.

"Need to talk to you in private."

Macao thought he was being quiet. While he wasn't loud, anyone who wanted to listen could hear him loud and clear. Gray got up from his seat and walked over to the bar counter as Lisanna and Macao disappeared behind the stairs.

"What is it?" she asked once they were out of sight. Macao glanced behind him as if to check no one was eavesdropping.

"Rumor mill's been running overtime lately," he said. "Word has it, there's a Salamander visiting the local towns." Lisanna felt all her strength leave her body, those words echoing through her mind. The stories of the fire mage Salamander were told all across Fiore. As far as anyone outside of Fairy Tail knew, Salamander was a legendary flame wizard that went missing two years ago.

"Do you know where?" she asked eagerly.

"I think he was last seen in Hargeon."

Lisanna thought of all the leads she and Happy's chased down in the past, all to no avail. But this wasn't just another flame wizard. This one actually had Natsu's nickname. Lisanna knew exactly what she was going to do.

"Now, hold on," Macao said, interrupting her thoughts. "I know you're desperate to find him. Natsu's saved my ass more than a couple of times and lord knows I owe him but this has scam written all over it. This may be a 'Salamander' but I don't think he's ours. From what I'm told, he's been going around picking up girls all along the coast." Macao may have been speaking but Lisanna had stopped listening, turning and quickly leaving. She had to get to Hargeon before Salamander left.

"Hey, big brother Elf," she called out as she threw on a jacket. "Watch the bar for me." Happy could hear the excitement in Lisanna's voice. A quick glance from her told the cat all he needed to know.

Gray watched the girl and her cat bolt out the door, his hand to his chin as he thought about what Macao just said. Finally, he stood up and went after her.

"Lisanna, hold up!" he called out, catching the girl's attention. She stopped to look at Gray, who casually walked up to her. "Hey, I think you should skip this lead. I'm with Macao on this one; this seems like a scam to me."

"Sorry, Gray, but that's not an option," Lisanna said adamantly.

"Natsu was a hot head but he was no womanizer. I find it hard to believe he'd show up after all this time just to start picking up chicks."

"And what if it is him? Gray, this isn't just another fire wizard I'm going after. This might be the best lead we've ever gotten." Her hand drifted up to the scarf around her neck. "I get why you don't think this is him but I have to check to make sure. Come on, Happy."

The blue cat quickly waddled after the petite girl, leaving Gray behind to think about his options.

-.-

"You really think this might be Natsu?" Happy asked Lisanna hopefully.

"Only one way to find out," she said, still clenching the scarf.

"Hey, Hargeon is a port town, right? Maybe we can grab some fish while we're there!"

"I'll pick up mackerel while we're there," she said, making her way into the train station. She quickly bought her ticket but as she was about to board, she stopped. She stared at the train, watching the smoke rise from the front.

"What is it?" Happy asked.

"Just thinking. Natsu always hated trains…"

"Then we're gonna have a hell of a time hauling him back here," a voice said from behind her. Lisanna turned around, surprised to see Gray standing behind her. "C'mon," he said casually. "Train's about to leave." Lisanna quickly rushed after him and onto the train. They found a compartment and the three of them took their seats, closing the sliding door behind them.

"I thought you weren't going to come along," Lisanna said to Gray as she set her backpack beside her.

"Hey, if it is Natsu, I'm not passing up the chance of having that pink-haired punk pyro owe me one," Gray said dismissively. Lisanna giggled at this. She could tell Gray was trying his hardest to act like he didn't care. Everyone had been affected by Natsu's death but she, Gray, and Erza took it the hardest. Gray may have acted like he'd gotten over it but everyone knew the truth. "If it is him, it kinda begs the question where the hell's he been all this time."

"And what happened to him?"

"Well, you're the only one who thinks he's not dead," Gray pointed out. "I mean, Mira and Elfman both say he died."

"I don't know what I saw but I know he's not dead," Lisanna said. "How many corpses float into the sky where you come from?"

Gray had to admit defeat at this statement. Lisanna might have been the only one who thought Natsu was alive, but all three Strauss siblings told the same story: Natsu's body had begun glowing and floated upwards before evaporating into nothing, leaving only his scarf behind, the same scarf that never left Lisanna's neck.

"Elfman said he'll tell Erza the situation when she gets back," Gray added. "If it is Natsu, I'm sure she'd want to know."

"I didn't want to get her hopes up for no reason. She took Natsu's death pretty hard. I had Mira and Elfman. I don't know if she had anyone."

Gray didn't tell Lisanna but he and Erza spent a lot of time beside the canal. It was where he found her when she first came to the guild. It was where he always found her whenever she wanted to be alone. It was where he found her for the week after she heard that Natsu was killed on a job.

"Hey, guys!" Happy called out, looking out the window. "We made it!" The two of them both looked out the window too. Their eyes fell upon the glittering coast, sparkling water stretching out as far as the eye could see. Boats were bustling about the harbor, fishermen returning with their catch. The town before them was a maze of buildings and streets, people going about their business.

"Do you even know if that Salamander's even still here?" Gray asked as the train rolled into the station, its brakes screeching as it came to a halt. Lisanna shook her head.

"Even if we knew if he was still here, we have to find him."

"We might have an easier time if we fly!" Happy suggested cheerfully.

"You two can fly," Gray said. "I'm gonna ask around."

"Gray's right," Lisanna agreed. "We should try asking the townspeople about Natsu." They all felt the jolt as the train came to a stop.

"It'll be faster if we split up too. I'll search the East end if you take the West."

"Alright. We'll meet in front of the Reef & Rig Restaurant at seven."

Gray was about to get up and leave the train compartment when he noticed a small crowd of people by the door, looking in.

"Uh…why're they looking at us like that?" he asked as people peered through the window, eyes wide as if they were witnessing something horrifying.

"If I had to guess, it's probably because there's a girl alone in a train compartment with a half-naked boy," Lisanna answered, picking up Gray's shirt and pants off the floor.

-.-

Lisanna hadn't been to Hargeon in a while. It was where she picked up her fish-soul. She might have known her way around, but she had no idea where Salamander could have been.

"Where there's squealing fangirls, there's Salamander," some of the townspeople said.

"Never seen him before but he's kinda hard to miss with all the girls surrounding him."

"Run toward the screaming girls."

Lisanna plopped down on a bench in exhaustion. They'd been walking around town for a while now and while people talked about Salamander, no one knew where he was or if he was even still in town at all.

"You should rest a bit," Happy suggested. "I can fly around and see if I can find anything." Lisanna grabbed the cat by his tail before he could leave.

"I'm fine," she said, getting back to her feet. "C'mon. If he's here, we'll find him." She barely started walking when the shrill sound of screaming girls filled her ear.

 _"It's Salamander! He's really here?!"_

 _"He's so dreamy!"_

Happy looked at the petite girl in excitement.

"Salamander!" he cheered.

"Natsu…" she breathed. The two of them rushed down the sidewalk. It wasn't long before they spotted the crowd of cheering girls. The world around her seemed to fade. The only thing that existed was that crowd of people and the person at its center. She shoved her way through. She could already imagine him, his spiky pink hair, his toothy grin, his dumb explanation as to what he'd been doing all this time.

"Natsu!" she called out, bursting through the crowd. That's when she stopped dead in her tracks, her dream shattering like glass to make room for reality as she laid her eyes on a blue-haired man.

"My, aren't you an excited one," the man said in a sultry tone. "Seems like the ladies are just hurling themselves at me."

"Who the heck are you?" Lisanna questioned, causing the man to jump back in shock.

"Who am I?" he exclaimed, brushing back his black cape. " _I_ am Salamander. I know I've been gone for two years but surely you've heard of me before."

"Salamander," the young Strauss repeated. "You look more like a 'Snake' to me." She turned to walk away but barely took a step before she felt herself shoved to the ground, dogpiled by about a dozen howling women.

"You take that back!"

"Salamander's a great wizard!"

"We're gonna rip you to pieces!"

"Now, now, lovelies," 'Salamander' said coolly. "I'm sure she has a perfectly legit explanation for all this." As if on command, all the women got off Lisanna and returned to admiring the man. He pulled out a sheet of paper and marker and wrote out 'Slamander' on it. "Here you go," he said, handing the paper to Lisanna as she got to her feet. "Now you can brag to all your friends."

The young girl took the paper, glaring at the name. With the paper in her left hand, she transformed her right into a caw paw. Holding up the paper for the crowd to see, she dragged her claws across the length of the parchment, shredding it into six strips and letting them fall to the ground.

"C'mon, Happy," she huffed, turning and leaving. The blue-haired playboy didn't seem to mind at all.

"Well, I'm afraid I must be going, ladies," he said. "I have business to attend to. Time for the red carpet." With a snap of his fingers, a red magic circle appeared at his fingertips. A stream of violet flame erupted at his feet, lifting the man into the air, above the screaming fangirls. "I'm having a soiree on my yacht tonight and you're all invited!" The girls beneath him squealed at the thought as the flames carried him away into the distance.

"Guess that wasn't him after all," Happy said disappointedly.

"What a creep," Lisanna grimaced.

"You can say that again," a voice said. They both looked over to see a blonde girl in a white shirt and blue skirt walk over to them. "Thank you for all your help."

"Sure, though I can't say I know what I did."

"If it wasn't for you, that creep's charm spell probably would've gotten me too."

Lisanna looked at Happy to see if he knew what the blonde was talking about but the cat could only shrug.

"Never heard of charm spells before," Happy said. The blonde girl practically jumped out of her skin when she heard this.

"That cat talks?!"

Lisanna could not help but giggle. Happy had been a member of Fairy Tail and her companion for years. She had completely forgotten no one else had ever seen a talking cat before.

"This is Happy, my best friend," she introduced.

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

"I'm Lisanna."

"My name's Lucy!" the blonde girl said. "If you two aren't doing anything, mind if I treat you both to dinner?"

Happy's eyes lit up at this, tugging on Lisanna's jeans in excitement. The reason they had come was to check out this 'Salamander' and he turned out to be a fraud. As far as she was concerned, there's wasn't any reason not to get food.

-.-

It wasn't fish but Happy didn't care. He was devouring everything on the platter, food spraying everywhere, the two girls being showered in condiments and crumbs.

"Lisanna and Happy was it?" Lucy asked with an awkward laugh. Lisanna was eating her salad like a normal person. She didn't even seem to care about the flying food.

"Sorry about Happy," she said, a chicken bone bouncing off the top of her head and landing on the window sill beside them.

"It's fine," Lucy replied. It actually wasn't. She had just spent half the money she saved at that one magic shop and the cat was throwing half the food she spent it on. "Thanks again for helping me with that charm spell."

"You mentioned that earlier," Lisanna said. "What is a charm spell anyways?"

"It's a type of magic that makes people attracted to you against their own will. That Salamander was using it to make all the girls think they were in love with him. That creep must've gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on it. I totally fell victim to it but I snapped out of it thanks to you two. I know I may not look like it but I'm a wizard too! I haven't joined a guild yet or anything but I hear there are tons of them all over the world. I hear it's hard to get into the more popular ones and the one I want to join is the most popular of them all! If I could just convince them to let me in, I think I might just about die!"

Lisanna smiled in amusement as Lucy's explanation about charm spell turned into her fawning over whatever guild she had in mind.

"You talk a lot," Happy commented.

"Happy!" Lisanna barked. The cat's comment snapped Lucy out of her trance

"Oh yeah, I forgot," she said. "You two were trying to find somebody."

"Yeah, we're looking for a guy named Natsu," Happy remarked, finally stopping to talk.

"We heard a guy calling himself 'Salamander' was passing through here so we came to see if it was him," Lisanna explained. "All we found was that poser."

"Wait, so your friend's nickname was also Salamander?" Lucy asked.

"You got it all wrong," Happy said. "Natsu wasn't another Salamander. He was _the_ Salamander."

Lucy stared at Happy for a moment, jumping up when the truth hit her.

"YOU KNEW SALAMANDER?!"

"Aye! Natsu was the fire mage everyone knew as 'Salamander'. He and Lisanna were the ones that raised me."

Lisanna put down her fork when Happy said this. She and Natsu had been inseparable for over five years, four of those years being spent raising Happy.

 _"No matter what happens, Happy is still our son."_

"That creep," Lucy growled. "So not only is he using a charm spell, he's a total con!"

"Thanks for the meal but I have to go," Lisanna said, sliding out of the booth. She reached back to pull out a wallet but Lucy quickly spoke up.

"It's fine! This was supposed to be my treat anyways."

Lisanna gave a gracious nod before exiting the restaurant, her furry blue companion right behind her.

-.-

The sun had just set when Gray reached the meeting point. The Reef & Rig Restaurant sat high atop a cliff overlooking the coast, the road to its parking lot running right along the edge. He spotted Lisanna and Happy standing at the rail, looking out across the horizon.

"Any luck?" Gray asked as he walked up, his hands in his pockets. "You guys find this 'Salamander'?"

"We found him, alright," Happy answered.

"It was just a fraud," Lisanna added. "He was just using the title and a charm spell to get girls."

"Well, at least we now know for sure," Gray said, leaning over the rail. "Apparently he's gone around telling everyone he's from Fairy Tail too." Gray's fist clenched at the thought. Not only was he using Natsu's name but he was using the guild's too. He was tarnishing the name of two of the things closest to his heart.

"Hey, look!" Happy called out. "You think that's the boat that Salamander-guy's having his party?" The two humans looked across the horizon, spotting the yacht in the distance.

"Something smells fishy," Gray remarked.

"Well we are by the coast, Gray."

"What is it?" Lisanna asked. The ice wizard kept his eyes on the boat. The whole scenario felt fishy.

"Hey, Lisanna. You think you can fly me out there?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I think it's time I talk with this 'Salamander'."

-.-

Gray could easily freeze himself a path to the boat but it was faster for Lisanna to carry him. She had performed a half takeover, turning her arms to wings and her feet to claws so she could carry him. Happy flew right beside them. They were so high above the water the boat looked like a toy beneath them. After having Lisanna explain to him what a charm spell was, he figured exposing the fraud in front of his screaming fans was a good form of justice. He might even thrash the guy a bit less if he felt bad enough.

"Something's wrong," Lisanna stated as they neared their destination. A brief flash of light later and she had turned the rest of her body into a bird. After a moment, she turned her body back.

"What is it?" Gray asked.

"The women on the ship have been knocked out! I can see them. They're laying all over the deck."

"So he's not just a con man," Gray growled. "He's actually kidnapping them." Frost formed around his fists at the thought. That's why the whole scenario felt wrong. He wasn't just a playboy trying to get attention.

"We have to find a way to stop them," Lisanna called out. She remembered how big the crowd of women around Salamander was. She could scarcely imagine so many being taken. Lucy's face flashed in her mind. She didn't know if the girl had fallen to the charm spell again but she couldn't bear the thought of her getting taken too. "I'm going to take us down. We have to stop the ship before it gets too far out into the water."

"But if we drop on the ship, they might start taking hostages," Happy pointed out.

"I have an idea about that," Gray said. "I can stop the ship but only if they can't steer it."

"Leave that to me," Lisanna said.

-.-

On board, Salamander stroked the chin of the unconscious woman that lay on the couch in front of him. He was completely surrounded by slumbering forms. That sleep spell should last a while.

"Hey, boss," a scraggly fat man in the corner said. "I thought you said you were gonna grab the blonde and white-haired chick."

"Forget about those two," Salamander said casually. "The white-haired girl warned her about me. She refused to come now that she knew the truth. It doesn't matter." He stood up and looked around at all the sleeping women, admiring his handy work. "We have ourselves quite the catch today." He sat back down, picking up a glass of wine to drink.

"BOSS, ICEBERG ALERT!" a voice outside yelled.

Salamander bolted to his feet.

"Iceberg?" he repeated. "Out here?" He rushed outside where his entire crew was. They stood at the front of the ship, gaping at the massive chunk in the water. Looking over the edge, it looked like a tower of ice had formed off the ocean floor all the way to the surface.

"Turn the ship!" Salamander ordered. "Helmsman, turn the ship!" His orders received no answer. He rushed to the bridge. As he burst through the door, he spotted the helmsman was sprawled out on the ground unconscious, a wrench lying beside him. Salamander rushed to the steering wheel and immediately tried to turn it but to no avail. It was stuck.

"Gah!" he cried out in frustration, the wheel refusing to budge. "I think there's something stuck in the rudder!" He reached down to pull the lever that would decelerate the ship but it was too late. Every conscious person onboard cried out in surprise as the ship collided with the massive chunk of ice with a deafening metallic boom, everyone getting tossed to the ground.

-.-

In one of the ship's lower decks, Gray gently placed his latest ice sculpture into the closet next to another he had made earlier. It would be a while before either of them would break out of the ice that trapped them.

"I'm gonna need you two to chill here for a bit," he said, closing the door. He quickly went up the stairs to the top deck at the rear of the ship. The entire crew was at the front, trying to figure out what an iceberg was doing here. He snuck to the edge of the ship to pull over a mermaid-Lisanna onboard right before she returned to human form. As they stood up, Happy descended in front of them, holding in a giggle. Gray gave the cat a thumbs-up for his work.

"Gray, can you ice-make us a boat?" Lisanna asked, looking at all the women laying around. She let out a sigh of relief when she didn't see Lucy among them.

"Not one big enough for all of them," Gray said. "We need to find a way to get the ship back into the harbor."

"Right, unless you know how to ice-make us a miracle, how do you intend on doing that? You're the only one out of the three of us that can silently take them all out."

"Hey!" a voice called out. They all looked up, realizing there were people on the upper decks too.

"Too late for that," Gray remarked as men rushed to the back of the boat. There was no point in hiding. Within moments, the three of them were surrounded. He rolled his eyes at the situation. So much for keeping quiet.

"Freeze," one of them yelled, a lightning ball forming in his left palm. Gray smirked at this.

"Ok!" he replied. In an instant, the man talking to him turned into an ice statue. Gray rushed forward, grabbing the frozen sculpture and hurling it at the crowd. Lisanna took on the guys in the back. One tiger take-over later and she started clawing her way through the crowd.

-.-

"Are you free Mondays? Tuesdays? Wednesday?"

Lucy's new celestial spirit didn't speak a word of English but at least he seemed to understand the language. It nodded and shook its head with every question. Once she was done with all her questions she stood up and looked back at the coast.

"It was a good thing that Lisanna girl warned me about that fake Salamander," she said. "Creep tried to dupe me a second time." She began walking along the beach with her tiny snowman-like spirit waddling behind her, glancing at the boat in the horizon. "That's probably his boat. Hope he gets caught." She then stopped in her tracks when a boom came echoing over the ocean. She looked back at the ship, realizing there was a massive spire of ice sticking out the side of the it. She ran up to the water, looking out at the boat.

"Sounds like there's a fight," she said wide-eyed to Plu. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. She looked up in time to see a pair of figures soaring through the skies, her eyes widening when she recognized them.

-.-

It wasn't a big ship so clearing it out wasn't that hard. Within a few moments, everyone was either unconscious or encased in ice. Lisanna handled the last guy, knocking him off the ship with a powerful kick. She and Gray turned to face the final person, Salamander himself.

The blue-haired man sneered when he saw Lisanna. That girl was starting to get annoying.

"If you really wanted to come to the party, you only needed to ask," he said smoothly, stroking his hair.

"So you're the freak everyone's been fawning over," Gray said, frost forming around his fists. "You're gonna answer for kidnapping all these girls. Then you're gonna answer for dirtying the Fairy Tail Guild's name!" Salamander smirked at this comment. He didn't bother answering. With a flick of his fingers, violet flames shot forth.

 _"Prominence Typhoon!"_

He smiled as he watched the fire swallow up the intruders. That was easier than he thought. His confidence quickly died and his eyes suddenly widened in shock when an ice wall exploded out of the fire, sliding across the deck and ramming into him to the floor before shattering like glass. Gray and Lisanna stepped over the broken ice shards and stood over Salamander. Neither of them were happy with him dirtying both the name of their guild and their friend.

"Not so fast," Salamander said. With a snap of his fingers, a stream of purple flame shot past the two mages and into the room behind them. Lisanna let out a gasp when she saw the purple flame hovering above a group of sleeping women. "I'd back off if I were you, unless you want me to roast these lovely ladies alive."

Gray clenched his fists, ready to launch an ice attack of any sort. But he glanced back at the string of fire. Gray let his ice die down while Lisanna transformed back. There was no winning this one. Salamander smiled as the tables turned. His smile soon died. With his crew all incapacitated the only sound left on the ship was the crackling of his flames, sound of the ocean waves, and the flapping of two pairs of massive wings. He whipped around, his eyes widening when he saw the two figures hovering above his ship.

"You kidding me?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Elfman must've told them where we were," Lisanna said.

With her silvery skirt glittering in the moonlight, her wings of blades, and her metal breast plate, Titania Erza hovered over the ship with her Heaven's Wheel armor, a halo of knives and swords circling behind her.

Her dark purple one piece left little unseen but her golden claws gleamed in the moon light, her white hair long and wild, a long black tail dangling below her, and a pair of massive bat wings keeping her in the air, Mirajane floated above the boat.

-.-

From the shore, Lucy could hardly believe her eyes. While they were just specks in the distance, she saw them clear as day when they flew overhead.

"That's Erza and Mirajane from Sorcerer Weekly!" Lucy squealed in excitement. She didn't know what the fighting was about but the good guys were gonna win. "They're saved!"

-.-

"We're dead," Lisanna and Gray stated.

Magic energy flowed into Mirajane's fists, a wall of water rising up behind her. With a wave of her hand, the tsunami she formed launched forward. The ship was picked up like a toy and carried with the raging tide, Gray and Lisanna clinging to each other screaming as they were carried along with it.

-.-

Lucy watched as the enormous wave carried the boat and hurled it into the pier. Water flooded the streets as the ship crashed onto the land, its occupants spilling onto the ground as the boat scraped to a halt. The sleeping women were finally woken up and they all ran screaming from the ship.

The crew groaned in pain as they got to their wobbly feet. Salamander also rose, looking up as the two women descended upon him. From the side of the toppled ship, Gray and Lisanna walked up to the edge, looking down upon the crowd. In the distance, Lucy was running for the scene. She had to see this for herself. She could not miss seeing Erza and Mirajane in action. As she made it to the edge of what was left of the pier, she watched as Gray proceeded to take off the rest of his drenched clothes. Lisanna let her jacket slide off her shoulders. Lucy's eyes widened by what she saw. The red guild mark on Lisanna's left shoulder. The blue mark on the right side of Gray's chest.

Lucy looked up at the two women in the skies, spotting the blue mark on Erza's left shoulder and the white guild mark on the demon's left thigh. Lucy felt her jaw drop as the truth dawned on her.

"Boss, I think we're in trouble," one of the men sprawled on the ground said. "Those marks on them. These guys are the real deal, Bora!"

"Don't call me that, you idiot!" Salamander snapped.

"These guys are Fairy Tail wizards!" another person screamed.

Lucy watched in awe as the halo of blades behind Erza turned and faced their target. There was a bang as they launched themselves as the men on the ground. Bora shrieked in panic, calling upon a purple flame to lift himself off the ground as knives rained down upon the street.

"Get them!" he ordered as he tried to escape on his carpet of fire. He looked forward but the only thing he saw was Mirajane's fist flying at him.

On the ground, Bora's men were summoning what little strength they had to attack the two younger wizards.

 _"Ice-make: Saucer!"_

Gray hurled a disk of ice down the street, mowing down everyone in its path and tearing apart the street beneath them.

 _"Take-Over!"_

A giant purple bunny shot through the crowd, plowing them over like bowling pins before crashing into the building behind them, bringing the entire structure down.

In the air, Bora was desperate to escape his two pursuers.

 _"Red Shower!"_

A downpour of crimson flames came down upon Mirajane and Erza. The two women weaved through the shower of fire.

 _"Hell Prominence!"_ Bora screamed desperately, a stream of fire shooting from his hands. A wall of fire erupted out of the ground as the stream swept across the town. Lucy watched wide-eyed as Erza and Mira vanished into the flames. But then, they both burst out of the fires. Bora let out one final shriek as two fists met his face. Erza and Mira hit the man with enough force to launch him from his carpet of fire. He blasted through the air like a cannon ball, crashing into the bell tower, the massive bronze bell giving a final toll before crashing down.

Gray stood up, walking away from the desolate wasteland of ice he had just created, massive spires of frozen waters sticking in in every direction, the road cracked and shattered by his attacks.

Lisanna walked out of the rubble of one of the buildings she had just demolished, nervously scratching the back of her neck, looking at all the other structures she had taken down.

Mira and Erza gently landed, their attacks leaving craters and paths of destruction all across town.

"That was amazing!" Lucy gasped. She watched as Lisanna did a half-takeover of a bird, picking Gray up in her claws before lifting him out of the air. She spotted Happy joining them. They all took off, leaving the demolished town behind. Nothing could wipe the smile of Lucy's face. The four humans and their cat may have vanished into the night but she knew her next destination. She knew where their guild hall was. She didn't know how to apply but it couldn't hurt walking up and asking. "Fairy Tail, here I come!"

-.-

The next day, Lisanna came walking into the guild hall, a stack of papers in hand. She could see Makarov paler than paper on the second floor. He knew what the papers were.

"Alright, you guys!" she announced, flipping through the stack. "The Magic Council's just submitted their official report." Everyone quieted down to hear the results. "For the Lupenos job, the winner is…Erza!"

The guild hall roared with cheers and protest. Lisanna knew her next job would be to distribute the bets among the winners. Of course, she also knew that Master Makarov would be none too happy. On the second floor, Mira could be heard laughing at Erza for being responsible for the most damage. Lisanna made her way to the bar where Elfman was reading.

"Pay up, sis," Elfman chuckled. Lisanna just made a face in response. She was so sure Mira would do the most damage.

Wiping down the bar counter, Lisanna thought about the job yesterday. She was still disappointed. She had her hopes so high the moment she heard the name 'Salamander'. Handing Happy his plate of fish, looking at the cat she and Natsu raised together, she smiled. Her hopes were damaged but not dashed. She wasn't going to give up just yet. She was going to grow with her guild mates. She was going to find out what happened that day. She was going to find Igneel. And, one day, she would find Natsu.

Her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of the creaking guild hall door. She looked forward, wondering who it was that just arrived. She watched as a sweaty blonde girl came walking through the door, taking in every inch of the guild hall. The young blonde was exhausted but ecstatic. Her overnight journey was worth it.

"I made it," Lucy said.


	3. Fire Dragon

_**A/N: Hey y'all. So, this is my first attempt at an original arc. Like the rest of the story, everything that happens has been impacted by the change in history. You can probably even predict certain events just by asking yourself 'what would change because Natsu died?'. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.**_

-.-

Lucy looked at the golden key in her hand. Key of the maiden: Virgo. She only regretted Virgo turned out to be an oversized ape.

Joining Fairy Tail was everything she wanted and more. She found an apartment in town and she was already taking jobs. It was a dream come true.

Still, a part of her wondered how her father reacted to her running away. She left without so much as a message. As cold as he was, he was still her father. Surely, he was worried.

Lucy shook these thoughts from her head. They just made things more difficult than they had to be. The important thing was she was now with Fairy Tail. And she had just finished a job. With this one all done, they were on the train back to Magnolia.

"Hey, thanks for the help," Levy said brightly.

"I should be thanking you," Lucy replied. "Thanks to you and Shadow Gear, we took down Everlue and I even got a new key." Lucy smiled at Levy and her three teammates: Jet, Droy, and Elfman.

"Yeah, shame we couldn't get paid though."

"It's fine," Lucy said dismissively. It actually wasn't. She could already imagine the land lady screaming at her for late rent. She's been making ends meet but just barely. Still, she couldn't scold Levy for her decision to not accept the payment of two million jewel. She already owed team Shadow Gear.

"You know," Levy remarked with a wink. "If you haven't picked a team yet, Shadow Gear always has an extra spot open." Lucy had to admit it was a tempting offer. Of all the jobs she's taken, she's made the most while working with team Shadow Gear.

"I'll think about it," she said cheerfully. She proudly looked at the pink emblem on the back of her right hand. She was in no rush to pick a team. Whichever one she picks, she was still in Fairy Tail.

"Nice job with that beast arm," Levy mentioned to Elfman, who scratched his neck with embarrassed pride.

"Well, I wasn't sure if could outmuscle Virgo so I used the Bear-Arm's gripping strength to use her momentum against her," he explained with a smile. Elfman wasn't the powerhouse he wanted to be but Lucy could tell he always tried his best.

"Hey," Lucy spoke up. "Mind if I go to the bathroom and get changed?" Levy giggled at Lucy's question. Much to Lucy's chagrin, they had her dress up as a maid to try to infiltrate the Everlue Mansion and she was still wearing that stinkin' costume.

"Go ahead," Levy laughed. "Bathroom should be near the back of the train."

Lucy stood up and made her way to the back of the train. Magic-fueled trains made for some pretty smooth rides. Sitting down, you wouldn't know the thing was moving. But standing up and walking to the back, she could feel the floor gently shifting back and forth beneath her. At least it didn't make it hard to walk and she was soon at bathroom. She went in and locked the door. That costume was embarrassing enough; the last thing she wanted was someone walking through the door in the middle of her changing.

She quickly put on her white shirt and blue miniskirt, folding up the maid outfit and stuffing it in a plastic bag. With all her clothes done, Lucy faced the mirror and pulled up the side of her hair into a pony tail, tying it off with a blue ribbon.

She was about to step back out when it seemed like the floor was pulled out from under her. She fell forward, hitting the door face-first with a grunt. The train was pulling up into the station, the brakes screeching until the locomotive came to a halt.

 _"Attention all passengers: due to an accident further down the track, this station shall be our last stop. We apologize for the inconvenience."_

Inconvenience? Inconvenience was an understatement. Shirotsume was a small town that didn't have its own train station. They had to take a train to a nearby town then ride a wagon the rest of the way then do the reverse on the way back. This train was supposed to take them to Magnolia in a single trip. Looks like they'll have to find another train.

Shadow Gear was already gone by the time she got back to their seats so she took her bag off the rack and got off the train. The train station was packed with both the people who got off the train and the people who had been waiting to board it. Lucky for her, Shadow Gear was within eyeshot and she quickly joined them.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked as she joined her friends in the train station. Everyone in the station was confused by the sudden stop.

"I heard there was a pretty big fire in the next town over," Levy said worriedly. She glanced at Elfman, who was talking to some of the train crew.

"Alright, thanks," he said, finally turning and returning to his team. They all looked at him anxiously. They could all see the shock and confusion on his face.

"What is it?" Levy asked.

"Apparently, a dark guild in the next town got into a fight with a fire mage," Elfman managed to stutter. He paused, as if he was unsure if he should mention this next part. "According to eye witnesses…it was a fire dragon slayer."

Jet and Droy's eyes bulged when they heard this. Levy's mouth dropped, unable to say anything. Elfman looked to the ground guiltily.

"That can't be right!" Levy exclaimed. "Are they sure?"

"Everyone who saw fight happen…they're all saying the magic circle had a dragon's face on it… and that he was able to eat fire."

Lucy looked at her friends' faces. Elfman couldn't bring himself to look at them. Levy kept shaking her head as if she refused to believe it was possible. Jet and Droy were just to stunned to even speak.

"Um…can I ask what this is about?" Lucy spoke up. "What's a dragon slayer?"

"You know how Lisanna and Happy have spent the past two years looking for someone?" Levy asked.

"Yeah, that Natsu guy."

"Natsu's fire magic was Fire Dragon Slayer magic."

"If it's fire dragon slayer then it has to be him, right?" Lucy asked.

"Well it certainly sounds like him," Levy said with a weak but warm smile. "Accidentally destroying a town while trying to stop a dark guild: that's something he'd do."

"But what should we do about this?" Elfman asked. "Lisanna, Gray, and Erza were the most affected by what happened to Natsu, especially Erza."

Lucy had some idea what he was talking about. She remembered reading articles about the shining knight, Erza Scarlet. It was apparent how much Natu's death had hurt her, donning black armor instead of her silver, using smoke bombs and throwing daggers instead of just swords. She always wanted to ask the scarlet witch about it but didn't want to bring up the painful memory.

"We can decide on what to do once we're back at the guild hall," Levy decided. "Right now, we need to catch a second train."

-.-

The Fairy Tail Guild Hall was lively today. Probably because it was training day. Teams were gathered together so they could all get stronger. Macao and Wakaba were having a friendly sparring match, though their trash talking would suggest otherwise. Bisca and Alzack had created a shooting range and were hitting empty soda cans off the top of a fence.

Gray hit the dirt with a grunt, a trail of dust getting kicked up as he slid across the ground.

"T-K-O!" Happy cheered, eagerly dinging the bell. Mirajane stood over Gray, holding her hand out to pull him back up. The impact seemed painful enough but he had taken off his clothes for the fight so his bare skin had been dragged across the dirt.

Standing at the side, Lucy and Shadow Gear were gaping at the sudden brutality.

"Alright, everyone!" Lisanna announced, coming out of the guild with a tray of drinks. "Drinks are ready!" Almost everyone stopped training to get some refreshments. Mira had to drag Gray across the ground to the table where Lisanna put the cups. Mira didn't even need to be angry to be intimidating today.

"Uh…do I want to know what's going on?" Lucy asked nervously. "What happened to you?!" she exclaimed when she saw Lisanna. The white-haired girl wore blue sleeveless dress so Lucy could see the bruises on her shoulders and bandages on her arms. Lisanna just smiled at the question.

"My training partner was Erza," she said. "It's a bit of a competition Mira and Erza are having. They want to see who's the better trainer."

Lucy watched as Happy floated down to Gray and began prodding him with a stick.

"I'm alive…" he wheezed. "Just…give me a moment."

"Next time, you might want to wear something when you fight," Mira remarked as Lisanna dropped his jeans and red shirt on top of him.

"You're one to talk," Gray groaned finally getting off the ground.

"Kick more and suck less and you can wear whatever you want," the gothic punk chuckled before walking off, leaving Gray groaning on the ground.

"I was so sure I could land in more hits than that."

"The fault is mine," Erza said, emerging from the crowd to pick up her own drink. "I will make sure I train you harder next time. Every training session, we shall start with a ten-mile run!"

Gray nearly spat out his drink when he heard Erza say this.

"That's Erza for you!" Happy cheered.

"You know," a voice said as Lucy felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. She looked up to see an orange-haired boy pull her in close. She immediately recognized the guild's resident playboy: Loke. "Perhaps I could be your training partner. I'd willing to personally teach you some of my special moves."

"Say what?" Lucy choked. She looked at Lisanna for help but the white-haired girl could only give an awkward grin.

"You must be quite the wizard. Cuz whenever I look at you, you make everyone else disappear."

Lucy gave an awkward cough, stepping back in an attempt to leave his arms, her keys jangling from the side of her skirt. Suddenly, Loke bolted backwards, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"You're not a celestial wizard, are you?!" he howled.

"Loke," Lisanna sighed, shaking her head. "Lucy's been here for a week now you realize this?"

"CURSE YOU FATE! WHY MUST YOU BE SO CRUEL?! I'M SORRY, BUT YOU AND I WEREN'T MEANT TO BE, MY DEAR!"

Loke bolted away so fast a small cloud of dust was kicked from his heels as he vanished into the distance.

"What's with him?" Lucy gaped as the retreating figure.

"Rumor has it, Loke once dated a celestial wizard," Lisanna explained. "It didn't go very well."

"Color me surprised."

Lucy wanted to get the awkward situation out of her head. She looked back at the training ring, suddenly realizing it was intact.

"I thought you'd be using more magic," Lucy remarked. The ring was free of craters, scratches, and ice sculptures. Considering how destructive those four were, she half expected the guild hall to be knocked over.

"Since all four of us use hand to hand with our magic, it was agreed that we'd spar without it," Lisanna explained.

"It helps to be adaptable," Erza added. "It's not just martial arts; strategy is also very important in case there is a situation where magic power alone cannot do the job. Perhaps you'd like to join us one of these days, Lucy."

"Eh…I'm good," Lucy replied nervously. "So you're hoping that you can get Gray to one day beat Mira?"

"I have no doubt he will accomplish that one day," Erza said proudly. "With enough effort, anything is possible."

"You've never tried slamming a revolving door before, have you?" Lisanna said flatly.

"Isn't it a bad idea to have members from the guild's two strongest teams fight like that?" Lucy asked. She immediately got a confused look from Gray.

"Strongest teams?" he repeated. "What're you talking about?"

"You and Lisanna, you dummy! You two are the strongest in the guild next to Erza and Mira."

Lucy watched Gray struggle to hold in a laugh.

"Yeah right," he scoffed. "Which idiot fed you that lie?" Just as those words left his lips, Lucy began to cower. Gray looked at the girl in confusion but he soon learned why they were like this.

"Talking about me, Gray?"

In a single second, Gray turned paler than paper and became stiffer than a board.

"Y-You're not an idiot, Mira," he stuttered, not daring to turn around.

"You still haven't met Laxus, Mystogan, or Gildarts," Lisanna pointed out. "Gildarts is actually so powerful, we need to rearrange the town so he doesn't accidentally break something. Then you have Cana and the wizards in the Thunder Legion. Me and Gray are far from the strongest wizards."

"What I meant was, outside the S-Classes, I'd classify Gray and Lisanna as the strongest two-person team," Mira corrected. "When they aren't with me or Erza, they do plenty of missions together."

"Gray's always been one of the better wizards here," Erza said. "And Lisanna's come a long way in two years. She used to be quite weak back in the day."

"I know that was meant to be a compliment, but I can't help but feel insulted," Lisanna remarked with an awkward sigh.

"If you ever decide to train with me, Lucy, I'm sure you can do the same."

"I'm fine…" Lucy quickly answered. Considering the scarlet witch just told Gray their training would involve a ten-mile run, Lucy dreaded what Erza would have in store for her.

"I guess we better do some training of our own," Levy said, turning to leave with Shadow Gear. "Later Lulu!"

"I better go get some more drinks," Lisanna said, looking at the half empty tray.

"I think I'll go with you," Gray said, pulling up his pants. "That's enough sparring for me today." He tossed his shirt over his shoulder and followed. Lucy glanced back at Erza and Mira, and she froze in fear.

"You know, Mira," Erza said with a dark smile. "A thought just crossed my mind."

"It must've been a long, lonely journey," Mira replied with an equally dark grin.

"We never finished our last fight."

Crimson and violet aura oozed off the two women. Lucy knew it was probably time to get out of there.

-.-

"Happy, why is everything on the floor?" Lisanna demanded to know, looking at the clutter of dishes. She had entrusted her friend to help sort the plates and now there was just a mess.

"It's called _gravity_ , Lisanna," Happy remarked, moving to pick up the clutter. The youngest Strauss was already at work stacking another tray with drinks.

"Gray, you gonna put on that shirt, or you gonna just hold it in your hand all day?"

"I'm good," Gray said, leaning back against the bar counter.

"You aren't going to train with the others, Lucy?" Lisanna asked when she glanced up and saw the blonde also enter the guild hall.

"Erza and Mira are going at it, so I'm going to hide," Lucy answered. Lisanna smiled at this.

"They do this all the time," Lisanna said confidently. "They'll be fine." Right on cue, a ball of energy blasted through the side of the building, smoke flooding through the hall. "It's nothing to worry about." A barrage of swords flew through the hole, embedding themselves in the tables. "Anyways," Lisanna said, deciding to change the subject before she was proven wrong again. "I'm gonna hand out the drinks." She walked around the counter and was about to head out the door when she felt Lucy grab her wrist.

"Hold on," the blonde said, her tone growing serious. Lisanna and Gray looked at her in confusion. "There's something I need to tell you two."

"What's wrong?" Lisanna asked, putting the tray back on the counter.

"I think I know where Natsu is," Lucy explained. Lisanna, Gray, and Happy stared at Lucy in shock.

"What?" Gray coughed.

"On our way back from our last mission, we had to take a different train back. There was a fight in Malken between a dark guild and…a fire dragon slayer."

Lisanna was glad she put the tray back on the counter. Otherwise, it might've slipped from her hand when she heard this. She looked at Gray, who shared her hopeful expression. Even Happy looked eager.

"You sure about this?" Gray asked sternly.

"Elfman said that the people who witnessed the fight said that he could eat fire."

"Malken, right?" Lisanna asked. The young girl had been waiting for her next lead. She had been chasing one rumor after the next, any fire mages that even sounded like Natsu. But, this was the best lead yet.

She looked at the tray of drinks. She was going to quickly serve the refreshments then she was going to get a train ticket.

"You've been searching for him for a while, huh?"

"Aye," Happy answered. "Me and Lisanna investigate any wizards we hear about that could be Natsu."

"We'll meet at the train station at three," Gray said to Lisanna, finally putting his red T-shirt back on.

"You're actually coming with me?" she asked. "Last time you didn't think I should bother."

"A random chump who calls himself 'Salamander' is one thing. But this guy…if it's really a fire dragon slayer, we need to look into it."

"What about Erza?"

"I'll tell her we took a mission together. I'm not getting her hopes up until we're sure."

"I need to stop by my house to get changed," Lisanna said, picking up the drink tray. She went back outside to serve another round of refreshments but the moment she set down the tray, she asked Elfman to watch the bar and quickly left. She had to get to Malken as soon as possible.

-.-

Gray was still sore from his sparring match with Mira but he wasn't injured. He was glad it was a purely hand to hand; he still had all his magic energy. All that was left was to wait for Happy and Lisanna. He stared at the train schedule. The train station announced that all trains to Malken had been canceled. They were going to have to take a train to a nearby town then travel the rest of the way there. Gray had already picked the train, which was going to leave in twenty minutes.

Gray couldn't really say if he truly believed Natsu was alive. Every cell in his brain believed the pink-haired fire-breather was dead. Still, he would jump at the opportunity to be proven wrong. But, even if he was right, he didn't want to tell Lisanna about it. She may have started out as just the annoying little girl that followed Natsu around but, after what they both had to face after his death, he didn't want to burst her bubble.

"Hey!"

Gray looked around at the sudden greeting. It wasn't Lisanna's voice.

"What are you doing here, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"I wanted to help. It's obvious Natsu means a lot to you guys."

"Not really. I just want to rub this in his face." He knew Lucy could see through his bluff. It didn't matter to him though. It just made things easier if she knew. He wasn't going to get caught calling Natsu his best friend or brother in arms or something sappy like that.

He looked back at the clock.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have you help out," he said. "Have you seen Lisanna anywhere?"

"Right here!" a voice shouted. Gray looked over to see Lisanna running through the station with Happy flying behind her. Gray knew she probably couldn't fight in her bright blue bar dress so she stopped by her house to switch it out for a pink tank top and teal miniskirt. "I'm all ready!" she said, tossing on a jean jacket. "Lucy, what are you doing here?"

"She volunteered to help us," Gray said, walking off. There was still fifteen minutes before the train left so he figured they might as well board now. He could hear the two girls share their excited greetings before they and Happy followed him onboard. They found an empty compartment and took their seats as the train started to move.

Gray remembered all the awkward looks he got when he went to Hargeon and ended up in his boxers in a train compartment with Lisanna. He got twice as many when people saw him in his boxers in a train compartment with both Lisanna and Lucy.

"What's with this guy?" he heard the conductor mutter, not realizing that this was the same conductor who saw him topless in a train car with Lisanna just a week ago. All Gray could really do was put his clothes back on and just move on.

With the Malken train station destroyed, they all had to get off at the next town over. After that, it was just a matter of walking to their destination.

"'How much further do we have to go?' the young lady inquires."

"We're nearly there," Gray said. He strolled down the dirt path like he was taking a morning walk. Normally it was him that had trouble keeping up with Erza. He had to admit, it felt good being the one setting the pace. He looked back at Horologium, the giant clock carrying Lucy inside. As she had quickly learned, she was not cutout for hiking. "We've been walking for about two and a half hours now so we're probably close." He glanced back at Lisanna. She was the chirpier one when they got started but she hadn't said a word for a while. But, as he quickly found out, she may not have been as vocal as Lucy but she was no less exhausted.

"Hey, guys!" a cheery voice called out. Gray looked up to see Happy floating down to them, his white wings vanishing right before he touched down. "We made it!"

Gray's face lit up when he heard this. He ran forward, leaving the two girls behind. He pushed past the wall of branches in front of him and stopped in his tracks. He stood atop a hill looking down upon the maze of buildings and sidewalks that ran alongside a river.

He had no issue pushing the two but he also didn't mind rewarding them for working so hard.

"Hey," he said to the tired ladies. "If you two are still alive, first drinks are on me."

-.-

He didn't see the damage from up on the ridge but it was very obvious as he made his way down the street. The train station had completely collapsed. Half the town was nothing but rubble. He could still smell the charred wood in some parts of the town.

"Here we are," Gray said, walking up to a café. He knew he had to give Lisanna and Lucy a moment to rest before going around to see if anyone could tell them anything about the fire dragon slayer.

"For you to travel all the way out here, Natsu must've meant a lot to you guys," Lucy remarked.

"We've known each other for over six years so we were pretty close," Lisanna said with a mild blush. "He may seem like a reckless idiot but he was a really caring person at heart. He'll do anything for a friend and he considers every person in the guild to be family. I wish you could've met him; I think you'd really like him."

"What about Erza?" Lucy asked. "I never asked her but were she and Natsu close?"

Gray and Lisanna exchanged glances, neither of them sure how to answer that.

"Me and flame-brain used to fight a lot," Gray said, not bothering to try and spin it. "She was always hard on him for having to clean up his messes. Add that to things like how he knocked Happy's egg from a tree because he was punching a picture of her…"

"She thinks he died hating her," Lisanna said for Gray.

Gray had noticed Erza scolded them far less often than she did before Natsu's death. Before, she would not hesitate to chuck both of them across the guild hall to prove a point. Now, as long as the guild wasn't doing anything stupid, she didn't seem to care. There was a time the entire guild would tremble in fear at her presence for they all knew she would begin cracking down on them for their behavior.

 _'Cana, stop drinking.' 'Macao, stop smoking.' 'Veejata, stop dancing.'_

Erza wasn't any less terrifying, but she had stopped being the terrifying enforcer of the guild.

The three of them looked up as a waitress came by and handed them their orders. It was a sandwich for Lucy, a salad for Lisanna, a steak for Gray, and a platter of fish for Happy.

"So how exactly do you intend on finding Natsu around here? Lucy asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"I have a few animal souls I think will be helpful for this," Lisanna said, still mixing the dressing into her salad.

"Before you try them, I think we should ask around first," Gray suggested, sawing off a piece of steak. "Natsu's probably in over his head and needs help dealing with this dark guild."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I don't think I've ever seen your magic in action before. You said you're a celestial wizard, right?"

"You got it!" Lucy said proudly with a wink. "I have seven keys in total so far: three silver ones and four gold zodiac ones."

"Can any of them handle a fight?" Gray asked.

"You bet, especially the zodiac spirits. I have Virgo the Maiden, Aquarius the Water Bearer, Taurus the Bull, and Cancer the Giant Crab."

"Crab!" Happy exclaimed eagerly.

"You already have your fish, Happy," Lisanna said, glancing at the platter Gray bought. "You can do with a little less food."

"Lucy could always do with less food too. You saw how out of shape she was walking here. I wasn't tired at all."

"Watch it, cat," Lucy growled. "The only reason you weren't tired was because you sat on Lisanna's head for two thirds of the walk."

"But your zodiac spirits can fight, right?" Gray asked. "Just having trouble imagining fighting alongside a giant crab."

"Yeah, having a fighting crab sounds stupid," Happy added. "Why are you making the crab fight when you can cook him and eat him?"

"Hey, you aren't cooking my spirits, cat!" Lucy said defensively. "Besides, Cancer is awesome."

"Please don't say that line again," Lisanna remarked with an awkward smile.

"Well, if we do have to face the dark guild, at least he stands a better chance now," Gray said, still analyzing the situation. "Chances are it won't be that serious, so you don't have to worry."

"I wouldn't sugarcoat it, Gray," Happy remarked. "Lucy might just eat that too."

"Shut it, you blue fleabag," Lucy glowered.

While Lucy and Happy were bickering, Gray was taking a moment to think about what was going on. When he looked back up he realized that Lucy and Lisanna were both staring at him.

"What?" he asked flatly. He turned to look in the direction they were looking at, his eyes falling upon one of the café's waitresses standing behind him.

"I think she's here about your clothes, Gray," Lisanna remarked with an embarrassed smile.

"More like she's here because he's not wearing any!" Lucy exclaimed. Gray looked down before leaping to his feet in shock to find himself in his boxers.

"It's fine," the waitress immediately said. "It's just that I overheard you guys talking about the fire wizard that's been going through here." The four of them looked at the young girl curiously.

"What about him?" Gray asked, trying to put his shirt and pants on as discretely as possible.

"Our friend's a fire dragon slayer," Lisanna said. "He's been missing for a few years and we're hoping this is him. Anything you know will helpful."

The waitress looked around as if she didn't feel comfortable talking in front of a group of people.

"Take it slowly," Gray said. "Just tell us what you know."

"Well…I don't know if he's actually a dragon slayer or not," she sighed. "I think that part's made up." Gray exchanged disappointed looks with Lisanna. It didn't matter though. Unless they were completely sure they were going to check it out. "It actually started a few weeks ago. The local towns said a fire wizard hired by Eisenwald was fighting the nearby dark guilds after sunset. Just a few days ago, it started here too."

"What about all the damage?" Lucy asked. "I took a train through Malken just yesterday but it was destroyed this morning."

"Last night, the fighting was particularly bad. He got into a fight with an ice wizard. That's why the town was destroyed."

"That's Natsu for you!" Happy cheered.

"Destroying half a town while trying to help," Lisanna giggled. "Juvenile as ever. That sounds just like him."

Gray put his hand to his chin. The name 'Eisenwald' sounded familiar. He just couldn't figure out why. It sounded like something he read in the papers. Finally, he just shrugged. He could figure it out later.

"You said that he's only fighting at night?" Gray asked. The waitress nodded nervously. He looked back at his friends. "You two up for an all-night stakeout?"

-.-

Lisanna looked up at the full moon. It was clear skies. The weather was perfect and the streets were empty. She could not ask for better conditions. She looked at the demolished building in front of her, just one of the many structures damaged in the fight between the dragon slayer and the ice wizard.

"Alright, Lisanna," Gray said from behind her. "Do your stuff." Lisanna held her hand out, a pink magic circle forming at her fingertips.

 _"Take-Over: Animal Soul!"_

Lisanna's body was engulfed in light, the updraft blowing her short hair upwards. As the smoke cleared, Lisanna stepped out. A giant silvery blue wolf stepped out of the smoke.

"You're huge!" Lucy could not help but exclaim at her sudden change in size.

"Pretty cute, huh?" Lisanna remarked, the horse-sized wolf sitting back on her hind paws.

"I get the animal," Gray said. "But why the color?"

Lisanna ignored his remark and walked up to the rubble, sniffing the embers.

"Lot of smells here," she said. She walked to the building across the street, sniffing the rubble. Gray, Lucy, and Happy followed Lisanna down the street as she sniffed each crate,r collapsed building, and crater in the street.

"Got anything?" Lucy asked. Lisanna didn't answer. She lifted her head up as a familiar scent was carried with the wind.

"This way!" she shouted, taking off down the street. Lucy was about to follow but Gray quickly put his hand on her shoulder.

"Happy, take her up," he ordered.

"Aye, sir!"

Lucy screamed in shock as Happy wrapped his tail around Lucy's waist and took off into the air.

" _Ice-Make: Grappling Hook._ "

Grappling hooks of ice shot from his hands and hooked onto the edge of the roof of the building next to him. He grabbed the ice chain and it pulled him up onto the roof.

The three followed Lisanna from the rooftops as the girl ran down the street. She didn't get the wolf-soul until after Natsu died so she didn't know his scent. But, there was a scent she picked up in the rubble, a scent that was also being carried downwind. Whoever destroyed the building was nearby. She was sure of it.

She could already picture Natsu, see his oblivious expression hear his stupid excuse. After the fake Salamander, she was beginning to doubt her belief that Natsu was still alive. There were a lot of beliefs that she had begun to doubt. Some because of what happened to Natsu. Others because of what she's seen in her journey to find him.

She remembered back when Mira first discovered her Satan-soul take-over abilities, her older sister had a hard time coming to terms with it. Lisanna had sworn she would bring Mira light in her dark world, that even when they were hated and feared by every person they ran into and chased out of every town for having a sibling that was half-demon, she would be there for her older siblings to tell them there was always hope. Everything she told Mira, she believed with all her heart; after all, how could Mira believe it if she didn't? But now, it seemed that life was coming for the sole purpose of shattering those beliefs.

She closed her eyes and shook these thoughts out of her head. She was not abandoning her beliefs just yet, no matter how childish they seemed.

She could tell she was nearing her target. She kept praying that it was Natsu. After searching for two years, she was praying that this was finally him. Still, something in the back of her mind kept nagging her, kept telling her this wasn't him, that it was just another imposter. After all, life didn't care about how kind you were or how much effort you put into something.

With a flash of light, her massive blue form shrunk and a pink mouse came scurrying out. It was the dead of night and everyone had gone to bed so she could hear everything. The only people nearby were Gray, Lucy, and Happy on the rooftops. She could see the person that had caught her attention. He was walking down the sidewalk next to the pier, glancing at the flowing water.

She couldn't tell if it was Natsu; the man's face hidden beneath a helmet. He didn't wear Natsu's usual clothes, a blue tunic with a gray cape atop of it, but that didn't really mean anything. It still could be him, hiding in plain sight.

She crawled up behind the cloaked figure. With a soft glimmer of light, she returned to her human form. The figure stopped, noticing the glimmer of light, but did not turn around. Lisanna stood up, not sure what to do or say. Between her trembling breaths, she could only call out one thing.

"Natsu?"

The figure turned around. She could only see his mouth but she could tell it was a look of surprise. Suddenly, he turned and ran.

"Hey!" she called out, running after him.

Who was this person? Would Natsu really run away from her like that?

She had to know the answer. Even if it wasn't Natsu, she had to see for herself. She rounded the corner into an alley. Seeing the brick wall at the end, she thought she had him cornered. But the man had vanished without a trace.

"Lisanna!"

The young girl looked up at the sound of Gray's voice, spotting the figure she had been chasing in the sky, carried away by a massive eagle made of ice.

Lisanna felt her heart sink. This confirmed it. That the ice wizard she was following, not the fire wizard. Still, there was something nagging her to follow. She had to know who this person was. With a flash of light, her armed transformed into massive bird wings and she took off after him. Below, she could see Gray carrying himself on a bridge of ice after her, Happy carrying Lucy behind him.

When she looked up, she was shocked to see the man now descending back to the earth. He landed on the roof with a grunt, his eagle of ice evaporating.

"Wait a minute!" Lisanna called out, landing on the roof of the building across from him. With a flash of light, her arms returned to normal.

"Do not follow me," the man suddenly said.

"Wait, I just want to talk!"

"No," he replied coldly, clearly annoyed. "I have important business. Do not interfere."

"Why the rush?" Gray asked, finally catching up, the ice bridge he rode on vanishing as he got off. "Going somewhere…Lyon?"

The man shifted uncomfortably at that name. Finally, the man reached up and removed his helmet, tucking the headpiece under his arm.

"Long time no see…Gray."


	4. Blast From The Past

Lisanna looked at Gray, then at the silver-haired boy, then back at Gray. She came here expecting a fire dragon slayer, or at least a flame wizard. But she has an ice one instead. More than that. She has an ice wizard that Gray clearly knows.

"Lyon," Gray breathed. "What are you doing here?

"I can ask you the same question, Gray," Lyon replied coldly. "How long has it been? You don't write. You don't call."

Lisanna didn't like the smug tone Lyon was giving. It was obvious he was mocking Gray. But Gray. And it was working.

"What are you talking about?!" Gray exclaimed. "You vanish without a trace. And now we suddenly find you here! Why _are_ you here?!"

Lisanna stared at Gray in shock. He was never this hostile to anyone. Not even Natsu. She wanted to ask what this was about but didn't know what to say.

"My business is my own," Lyon said coldly. "Besides, I can ask you the same question."

"You first," Gray said, crossing his arms stubbornly. Lisanna looked at the two boys. It was obvious neither intended to budge. She knew how stubborn Gray could get with Natsu. And knowing him, he would stay there all night before speaking first.

"Gray, c'mon," Lisanna said. Gray shot her a glance, not wanting to give in first. But Lisanna knew he would. Without Natsu, Gray took over the role of looking out for Lisanna. And that occasionally meant swallowing his own pride for her. She didn't want to put him in a position like that, take advantage of his kindness to do what she wanted. But they were wasting time. Besides, he could always tone back his pride a bit.

With a sigh, Gray finally spoke.

"We're here looking for the fire dragon slayer," Gray explained. "We heard one got into a fight in this town so we came to check it out."

"Well, finish up whatever you're doing and leave," Lyon ordered.

"You know you're awfully rude," Lisanna remarked, putting her hands on her hips. "What's your problem?"

Lyon looked to the side, clearly considering her words.

"I apologize if I come off as abrasive," he said. "But I was in the middle of something. And you two may have just cost a day of progress."

"Progress?" Lisanna asked excitedly. "Are you looking for the dragon slayer too?"

Lisanna felt her heart leap in excitement. Lyon may have maintained his unamused stare and looked like he was ready to tear her head off, but she didn't care.

"What does it matter to you?" Lyon asked coldly. He looked at Lisanna in annoyance. Clearly, he wanted to leave, to not have to deal with them, but she didn't care. She could always try to make friends with him later. Right now, she needed to know what Lyon knew about the fire dragon slayer.

"Our friend Natsu is a dragon slayer. We're looking for him."

"Do you know anything about it?" Gray asked suspiciously.

"Not much. Rumor has it that not long ago, a guild called Eisenwald hired two new wizards for extra muscle: a fire mage and a mage who says he can see the future."

"See the future?" Gray repeated. "That's impossible."

"Wait a minute," Lisanna interrupted. "Is the fire mage the fire dragon slayer?" Two years of searching was about to finally pay off, two years of yearning.

"That is the rumor," Lyon said, crossing his arms.

"Do you know anything about him?" Gray asked, leaning forward curiously.

Lyon paused, looking at Lisanna, then looking at Gray, finally looking back at Lisanna. Lyon didn't answer at first, maintaining his flat stared. Finally, he spoke.

"No," he said, looking away. "I don't know anything about her."

This may have sounded like bad news, but Lisanna was still eager. She was on the right track, she was sure of it. Two years of searching might finally pay off. Two years of disappointment, her perseverance might finally pay off. She just needed to find the dragon slayer.

Lyon lifted his hand, aiming his palm at Gray and Lisanna, frost forming around his arm.

"Do not follow me," he said. "And do not get in my way."

He raised his arm into the air and, suddenly, a massive ice eagle formed at his fingertips. He grasped the claws of the eagle and it launched into the air, carrying Lyon with it.

Gray and Lisanna watched as the boy vanished into the distance. Lisanna looked at Gray, curious who this Lyon guy was. What did he have to do with Gray?

Lisanna was about to speak when she heard the flapping of wings behind her. She and Gray turned around in time to see Happy land with Lucy, the blue cat setting the blonde down before dropping to the ground in a heap.

"Happy!" Lisanna cried out, rushing to her friend's side.

"Sorry," Happy groaned. "She's heavier than she looks."

"Hey!" Lucy cried indignantly, picking herself off the ground. "That's so rude! You weren't exactly soft on the landing."

"And you weren't exactly light on the take off," Happy groaned.

"Alright, you two," Lisanna laughed. "I think we've had enough adventuring for one night." She picked up Happy into her arms, setting him on her head. "Let's grab a hotel for the night."

The three of them prepared to leave, but Lisanna noticed that Gray wasn't moving.

"Gray?" Lisanna said, looking at the boy. Gray was staring up at the sky where Lyon fled. She didn't know how Gray knew this person but it was obvious they shared a very long history.

"I'm fine," he said, turning around. "C'mon."

-.-

Why was he here?

This was the question nailed in Lyon's mind like a piece of wood. He stood atop his massive ice eagle, watching from a distance as Gray. He clenched his teeth as the memories of Deliora came flooding in. The position he was in now was all because of Gray. Everything that has happened was because of him. The sound of mocking laughter echoed in his head. It was Gray's fault he lost his opportunity to silence that laughter.

His fist clenched so hard that his hand turned numb. His teeth clenched.

There would be no greater pleasure than to rub everything in Gray's face. But he had to be a bigger man than that. He straightened his cape and cleared his throat.

"We'll see each other again," Lyon said. With that, the ice eagle took off into the distance with the ice wizard on his back.

-.-

Gray looked out across the Malken, staring at the pinpoints of light in the starry sky. Finding a hotel in Malken was easy enough. It seemed like people were avoiding town after the fight. Lucy went straight for the shower. Gray could hear it running for the past hour as he stared off into the distance. He heard the door open behind him, listening as Lisanna came in.

"Anything?" Gray asked, not turning around.

"I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary," Lisanna said, plopping down on the couch behind him.

"Which takeover did you use?"

Gray waited for Lisanna to answer but all he got was awkward silence. He technically didn't have to ask. He knew the answer when she walked in.

"Lisanna, you need to practice your minimal-body takeovers," Gray sighed.

"I'm trying!" Lisanna sighed. "But every time I try to equip eagle eye or wolf nose, my whole head turns into a bird."

Gray gave a sigh. This was not his magic so he was limited how he could teach Lisanna. Even Mira and Elfman were limited in what they could do to teach her.

"Keep trying," Gray said. "If you truly want to get stronger as an animal-soul user, you'll need to be able to do this." He glanced back at her. He could see her hang her head in disappointment.

"Animal-souls aren't as heavy-hitting as beast-souls or demon-souls, but they aren't as complex. So it's one of the few takeovers that can do minimal-body takeovers. They aren't made for head-to-head fights, but they have all sorts of other uses. And I'm not just saying that. Tell you what. When we get back, we'll work on it together."

Gray expected Lisanna to cheer up from that comment. But he didn't see that familiar smile. Taking a better look at her, she wasn't even sad. It was like her mind had drifted to another topic. So much for his motivating speech.

"Gray, who was that back there?" Lisanna asked.

Gray should've known Lisanna would be asking about this. He had hoped that he could distract her from the subject matter but it looked like it stuck in her mind.

"Have you ever heard of the demon Deliora?" Gray asked, turning back toward the window.

"I might've heard some stuff about him."

In other words, she's never heard of it before. He gave a sigh as he began to explain.

-.-

Lucy gingerly stepped out of the shower, a towel around herself. She reached for the sky and leaned back as she stretched her arm. That was a really nice shower. It was nothing like the showers that she was used to, but it was nicer than the ones she took back at her apartment. She reached for the door knob, but then realized she could hear Gray and Lisanna talking through it.

"Deliora: the demon of destruction. A while back, it set its eyes on Isvan."

That was Gray's voice. And he sounded more solemn than usual. She paused, letting go of the door not and pressing her ear against the door.

"Isvan?" Lisanna repeated. "Isn't that where you were born?"

Lucy paused, looking down at the ground. She knew Lisanna was struggling with Natsu's death. She never realized that Gray was struggling with is own problems too. She wanted to walk through the door to make sure Gray was ok. But she knew that she technically wasn't even supposed to be listening.

"Yeah, Deliora wiped out my entire family. I was saved by my master, Ur."

"Master? Do you mean…"

"Yeah. She's the one who taught me ice magic. Lyon was her other student. She raised us both."

"So you're like brothers."

Lucy cracked a smile hearing this. Leave it to Lisanna to try to find a way to group everyone into one big family.

"I wouldn't go that far," Lucy heard Gray say with a chuckle.

Even Lucy gave a slight giggle at Gray's amused reaction.

"Did you hear that?" Gray asked. Lucy went stiff and clasped her hands over her mouth. She had giggled a bit too loudly. She looked around wildly, not sure what to do. If they realized that she was the one who made the noise they would find out she was eavesdropping on them.

She had no choice.

-.-

Gray opened his mouth to speak when the sound of an opening door caught his and Lisanna's attention. They turned to see Lucy exit the bathroom, still drying her hair with a towel.

Immediately, Lisanna's mouth dropped.

"Wait, did you just finish taking your shower?" she gaped.

"Yeah, why?" Lucy asked as if it was nothing.

"You were in there for an hour!"

Lucy stared at Lisanna, clearly confused by her reaction.

"Don't people normally take showers like that?" Lucy asked.

Gray could practically hear the screws squeaking as Lisanna slowly shook her head. Now Gray was curious. He's heard Lucy talk about her financial woes. But she was talking about taking hour-long showers like it was nothing. And judging how she wasn't shriveled from the water, she clearly didn't spend the entire shower in the water. It really made him wonder about her life style.

"Anyways," Lucy said cheerfully. "What're you guys talking about?"

"Just…talking about what we should do tomorrow," Lisanna answered before Gray could speak. Gray actually didn't mind Lucy knowing about his history. Still, he appreciated that Lisanna's first reaction was to keep it a secret. She didn't put on the most convincing performance but it was nice nonetheless.

"Yeah, Lisanna," Gray said. "About that…"

Lisanna looked at Gray. It was clear she could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"Why?" she asked. "Gray, this is the closest we've ever come to finding Natsu again. This isn't just a fire wizard! It's a fire dragon slayer!"

"it may be a fire dragon slayer, but it's not Natsu," Gray said.

"How do you know?"

Gray could tell Lisanna was desperately clinging to her hope that she would find Natsu.

"Did you notice how Lyon talked about the dragon slayer?" Gray paused to give Lisanna a chance to think about it. When she didn't answer, Gray told her. "I asked if he knew anything about the dragon slayer. Lyon said he 'didn't know anything about her'. Whoever this is we're chasing, it's not Natsu." Gray thought that this would discourage Lisanna. While she didn't have the same excitement in her eyes, she didn't look disheartened.

"Even if it's not him, we can't just give up," she insisted. "The only way to learn dragon slayer magic is from a dragon. Maybe this person knows Igneel."

"Lisanna," Gray said firmly. He didn't want to crush her hopes like this but he knew this was what was best for her. He walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulder and looking her in the eye. "Let it go," he said.

Gray expected Lisanna to argue with him. He didn't tag along on every trip but he knew how long she has been searching. He expected her to fight back and refuse to leave, or put on a set of puppy eyes to try to convince him. Instead, she relaxed. He could feel her shoulders ease up.

"Alright," she said with apparent reluctant disagreement. Gray looked at her suspiciously. She was way too stubborn to give in that easily. Still, he couldn't really do anything about it. He took his hands off her shoulder and looked back at the moon behind him.

"It's getting late," he said. "We should head to bed." He put his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the door. "I'm in the room across the hall. Knock if you need me."

With that said, he opened the door and left.

-.-

That night, Lucy didn't even bother falling asleep. She just lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It wasn't just Lisanna. Gray was haunted by his own demons. She remembered her father. She ended up taking her problem into her own hands and ran away from home. She may not have had help dealing with her problems but she could help her Fairy Tail friends with theirs.

She rolled over in her bed and looked at the keys sitting on the night stand: her gate keys. She had a whole bunch of keys she could use to help her friends out. Taurus, Aquarius, she even had her newest member: Virgo. She wasn't much of a fighter but she intended on helping out.

It was only while she was laying on her side she realized something. She could see the nightstand that sat between her and Lisanna's bed. And she could see Lisanna's bed on the other side of it. But she did not see Lisanna in that bed. Her bed was empty.

Lucy carefully sat up, looking around the dim room. Lisanna's bed was completely empty. Even Happy wasn't sleeping on the pillow. She got out of bed and swiftly walked to the balcony. The balcony door was wide open, a cool breeze gently whistling into the room.

They didn't…

Lucy double checked the bathroom to make sure she was not wrong.

Empty. Just like the other rooms.

Lucy went to the door and peeked through the peep hole. There was no one in the hall either.

They did. Lisanna and Happy both got up in the middle of the night to continue investigating.

It took a few minutes but Lucy switched out her pajamas for her white blouse and blue miniskirt. She snatched her keys off the bed stand and looped them into her belt.

"Here I come!" Lucy declared, putting her hands on her waist and striking the most badass pose she could with her foot up on a stool, her left hand on her hip, and her right hand pointing forward. Then, her arm fell limp and she hung her head when she realized something.

"I don't have a clue where Lisanna went."

-.-

Lisanna looked down at the rubble before her. She had to sniff out a trail before reconstruction begins.

"You sure you can pick up the dragon slayer's trail?" Happy asked, picking up a burnt rock and tossing it aside.

"Positive," Lisanna said confidently. "Now that I know Lyon's smell, I can separate it from the rest."

It was time. Even if it wasn't Natsu, she had to know the truth. Another Fire Dragon Slayer. The only way for this person to know slayer magic is from a dragon. Maybe she can get information on the dragons, maybe even find Igneel.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. She focused all her magic energy on her nose. If she could perform a minimal takeover with a wolf's nose, she could smell everything even in human form. She kept her focus. She could feel the magic build, her nose becoming hot with sweat.

Then nothing.

She felt all the magic energy she had built up in her nose leave in an instant, like a balloon deflating. She reached up and wiped her nose, glancing at her hand. No new scents. All she had succeeded in doing was give herself a bloody nose.

She gave a sigh. Looks like she would have to do it the old-fashioned way.

 _"Takeover: Animal Soul."_

With a brilliant flash of pink light, Lisanna's form changed. She emerged from the glow with her full-body takeover: a giant blue wolf.

Happy wasted no time flying up and landing on Lisanna's now-furry head, laying back like it was a giant pillow. Lisanna didn't mind.

She lowered her snout, hovering over the debris. Certainly a lot of smells. She could still smell Lyon's scent too. She carefully made her way through the demolished section of town, mulling around the collapsed buildings.

She paused, giving the air another sniff.

"You smell something?" Happy asked.

"I don't know…" Lisanna said, sniffing the air again. "Lyon's scent was on everything. That's how I found him. But there're are other scents on everything too."

"So, whoever that smell belongs to must be the dragon slayer he fought," Happy concluded.

"Maybe. The problem is…there's two of them."

She gave another sniff. There was no doubt about it. There were two smells mixed with Lyon, all three smells covering nearly everything. She had no choice but to pick one and go with it. She took in a long whiff of the air.

"This way," she said, jogging down the street. Happy had to cling onto Lisanna's massive wolf ears to hang on as she bounded through the empty town. She didn't know where she was going. She was only following her nose. She bounded down empty streets, past a few carriages going down the street, and dark alley ways.

-.-

Lucy's had her share of stupid ideas before, but this took the cake. She plopped down on a bench to catch her breath. She had spent at least fifteen minutes aimlessly walking around the town. And her feet were killing her.

"What was I thinking?" she moaned to herself. She looked around. The town was next to empty. And, with it being the dead of night, kinda creepy. "You know, a night on the town's really boring when there's no one else to talk to."

She sat up when she noticed something. Correction. Not something. Someone. Lucy could see someone standing at the end of the street. It looked like a young woman.

"Thank goodness," Lucy sighed, standing up. For a moment, she was afraid she was completely lost. But, it looked like she had caught up with Lisanna after all. "Hey, Lisanna!" Lucy called out, jogging toward the figure. She had nearly reached the figure when it occurred to her: Lisanna had short hair. She looked at the figure. It had long hair.

Lucy stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the figure. She was so close she could reach out and touch it but, for some reason, the shadows still obscured its face. Finally, the figure stepped forward.

Lucy fell backwards to the ground, eyes wide with fear. Her face went pale. Impossible. Out of all the people it could be, why did it have to be her? Lucy fell silent, not sure what to do. Was there anything she could do? No. All she could do was prepare for the hell to be brought down upon her by,

"Erza…" Lucy whimpered. Lucy gave a terrified shriek as a set of throwing knives flew from the darkness and hit the ground in front of her.

As the scarlet witch stepped forward, the shadows parted like curtains that had been concealing her, her dark armor perfectly blending in with the blackness.

"I see," Erza said, staring at Lucy as she stepped out of the shadows. "So, this is where you three are."

Lucy was always told that Erza lost a lot of her flame after Natsu's death. Seeing Erza now, she had to wonder what sort of hell-spawn she was before.

"First things first," Erza said. "Where…is…Gray?"

-.-

It was rather ironic. The one time you would find Gray fully clothed was when he's asleep. He was too lazy to get undressed for bed. And he couldn't act on his stripping habit when he was off in dreamland.

So he was still fully dressed when his eyes opened, the sound of pounding on the door echoing through the room. He groaned in annoyance, rising to his feet. He was still rubbing his eyes when the knocking came again, heavy bashing shaking the whole room.

"I swear if that's Happy again, I'm going to kill him," Gray growled. He got off the bed and to his feet. He didn't even bother peeking through the peep hole.

"What do you want, you stupid cat?!" Gray shouted as he flung open the door. His eyes went wide when he saw a metal fist fly at his face. The world was spinning as he felt the back wall of the hotel room hit his back.

He looked up, his vision still blurred and his mind still dazed. He looked up, his eyes falling upon a sight he thought he would never see again.

"Erza," Gray breathed. But it wasn't Erza that he didn't expect to see again. It was her expression. Aside from Mira, Erza hadn't clobbered anyone in anger for two years. If he had to be honest, that punch was bittersweet.

He stood up, still massaging his sore jaw as he stared at Erza. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lucy staring dumbstruck at the scene unfolding before her. Gray glanced back at Erza, who maintained her own unamused glare. Finally, the scarlet witch gave a sigh.

"I won't apologize," she said. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"You really have to ask?" Gray said, cracking his neck and putting his arm down. "You took Natsu's death harder than me. Harder than Lisanna. You shut down!"

Gray could see Erza's expression soften. It was Gray's turn to sigh. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. He wasn't good at this emotional stuff so had to play it like he didn't care.

"Look, Natsu was the heart of Fairy Tail," he said. "His death affected all of us. But you were the one person I didn't know how to help. Lisanna will let go eventually, so going on these wild goose chases would let her down slowly. But I wasn't sure how…"

Gray's voice trailed off, clenching his fists in frustration. He looked up in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Erza moved in, wrapping her arms around him.

Gray froze at this sudden move from Erza, not sure how to react.

"Thank you," she said softly into his ear. "But there was nothing you could have done for me. People cope in their own ways. I just needed time to myself."

Erza slowly pulled away, glancing at a shocked Lucy. Finally, the blonde straightened herself out.

"Erza, by the way," Lucy spoke up. "Did you see Lisanna on your way here?"

-.-

Lisanna looked at the rundown building before her. It looked like a hospital, or at least what remained of a hospital.

"You sure this is it?" Happy asked, the two of them staring up at the building.

"I'm sure," Lisanna answered. "Three smells that were involved in the fight lead straight here."

The white-haired girl walked up to the doors. They were supposed to be automatic, but it wasn't going to open itself now that its magic power supply was cut. Gripping the door knobs, she gave a solid tuck. The doors rattled a bit but they would not budge. She stepped back, putting her hand to her chin as she looked around.

"You know," Happy, remarked. "Natus would probably just break open the door."

"True. But when do we use Natsu's strategy for anything?"

Lisanna fell silent again, looking around, staring at the door frame, then looking to the left and right of the door.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed, running to the left of the door. She looked up, her eyes falling on a tiny open awning window high above their heads. Happy looked up at the window, then at Lisanna.

"Yeah, you're nutso if you think I can fit through that," the blue cat said.

She had to acknowledge Happy had a point.

"Don't worry," Lisanna said, transforming her arms into wings. "I got this." With a flap of her wings, she bolted into the air. She flew up to the window, pausing to look up at it. She'd be lucky if she could fit her head through it. She had to be careful if she wanted to fit.

She eased up flapping her wings, letting herself drift down a bit more. Then, with a powerful flap of her wings, she bolted up at the tiny opening. At the last moment, her body glowed, shrinking to a fraction it's its. Lisanna emerged from the glowing mist as a white tabby cat, grasping the sill of the window with her claws. Her back legs flailed for a bit as she tried to pull herself up. Finally, her hind legs found some traction and she pushed herself through the window.

At least she tried to.

She made it half way before she encountered another problem. She grasped the inside of the sill and pulled, but her body would not budge. She thrashed for a bit, trying to force herself forward, but she would not move. Finally, she just let to with all four of her claws. But instead of falling back out the window, she hung there, the window and its sill uncomfortably pressing up against her back and her ribs.

"I think I'm stuck," she sighed. She forgot. She had limited control over the size of her full-body takeovers. While she could become the size of a small cat, she never really mastered that ability. She could easily be larger. But smaller was an issue. Even now, she was awfully big for a cat. Even her full-body mouse soul made her the size of a large rat.

"Wow, Lisanna," Happy remarked. "I think Lucy's been rubbing off on you."

"You know, Lucy's right," Lisanna retorted. "You can be very rude. Besides, if anything you've been rubbing off on her with your eating habits."

"Oh? So, I guess you _do_ think she's fat!"

Lisanna paused. She walked right into that one. She didn't even bother responding. Firmly grasping the window will with her front claws, her body glowed again. Within moments, it shrunk once more. She emerged from the glowing mist as a pink mouse. With a grunt, she hauled herself through the window. Once through, she transformed once more, becoming a cat and gingerly leaping to the floor. With another flash of light, she had returned to human form.

"See anything?" Happy called out from the outside. Lisanna looked around. She had ended up in a storage closet. There was a rack of stuff against the wall, a stack of cardboard boxes under the window she just came through, and a door to her right. The tested the door knob.

It was unlocked.

She opened the closet door and found herself in the lobby. She didn't waste any time to walk up to the front door and unbolt it.

"C'mon, Happy," Lisanna hissed. Lisanna expected a blue cat to answer her call. Instead, a familiar face stepped out of the shadows. Lisanna immediately transformed both her hands into tiger claws, getting ready for a fight as Lyon stepped out of the darkness, frost around his raised hand and a magic circle at his fingertips.

"Lyon?" Lisanna gasped. The silver-haired boy gave Lisanna chilling stare. It was obvious he had a plan and didn't intend to let her slow him down.

"I told you not to get in my way," Lyon growled.

"Really hard to get out of your way when I don't know where you're going," Lisanna pointed out. She watched as Lyon tensed. He clearly didn't like being made fun of. "I've been looking for a dragon slayer for two years. I'm not leaving now. Look, we don't have to fight each other. Maybe we can work together."

"I think not," Lyon scoffed. Lisanna was taken aback by his response.

"What's your problem anyways?" she snapped. "You've been nothing but a jerk every time I see you."

"We've only run into each other twice."

"Whatever! You've been nothing a rude jerk since we met. What's your problem anyways?"

There was no answer at first. For a moment, Lisanna though Lyon was never going to answer. He had a very familiar stubbornness to him. It reminded her of another ice mage she knew.

"Perhaps you should ask Gray."

"He told me. You two grew up under the same master. She raised you like you were her sons."

Suddenly, Lyon tensed. Lisanna was almost scared by the anger that filled his eyes. But it only lasted a moment. A moment later, he recomposed himself. The dichotomy was unnerving.

"Well, if he told you so much…did he tell you how he killed her?" Lyon asked.

Lisanna felt her blood chill. Of all people, Gray was the last person she could imagine killing somebody.

"I don't believe you," she breathed. "You're lying." Lyon didn't bother responding to this accusation.

"Killed her and my dream with it," Lyon continued. "It was my dream to one day surpass Ur. It was the only thing I wanted. I trained under her for years to accomplish that. And now that dream is dead, thanks to Gray. I've had to watch my dream die before my eyes twice now. You aren't getting in my way, not when I'm so close!"

Twice.

That word echoed in her head. If Ur's death was the first death of his dream, what was the second?

She cast these curiosities aside.

"Have you ever considered maybe you've been consumed by your dream?" Lisanna asked. "I'm not saying what happened isn't awful, but obsessing over it is eating you from the inside!"

"And thus the pot calls the kettle black," Lyon laughed. "I've actually heard of the Salamander Natsu Dragneel before. You've spent two years chasing after a dead boy. You say I'm consumed by my dream? You're exactly the same!"

Lisanna wanted to say that these words didn't affect her, but they did. They cut deep. She wanted to retort, but she couldn't. He was right. Two years chasing Natsu when everyone told her he was gone. She just didn't want to admit it. But no one was affected by her chase, right? No. Erza gave up after the first few searches, but Gray stuck by her side. But, that's because he was looking too, right? Then why didn't he ever find anything? Why didn't he ever go searching by himself like she did? He came to look after her, to take care of her in Natsu's absence. She was so busy going on wild goose chases that, she knew in the back of her mind, were pointless. She never realized she was dragging him around like a dog on a leash.

It was a brief distraction, but it was enough. Lyon let out a yell, snapping Lisanna back to reality. But it was too late. A magic circle formed at Lyon's fingertips, a blast of magic energy flying from it and hitting Lisanna square in the chest. The world flew past her until she came to a hard stop, letting out a pained grunt as she hit a wall behind her. Glancing back, she didn't hit a wall. It was the window to an office of some sort. She looked down. Her body was frozen solid, trapped in a thick layer of ice.

Lisanna prepared to transform but stopped. The ice was frozen tight around her body. Depending on how it clung to her, if she shrank she could end up stretching herself apart. And if she grew, she could end up crushing herself.

"Take pride in this," Lyon said, walking past her, not even looking at her. "You're the first person who's ever made me waver in my goal. But nothing's stopping me, least of all some pathetic girl. When I leave, the ice will vanish after it exits my range of magic."

"Lyon!" Lisanna called as he walked away. "Don't do this!" It was too late. He was gone. Lisanna sighed and hung her head. It looked like she was trapped there. She shifted her body. She might as well make herself comfortable.

It was then she noticed another shadow by the door.

"Who's there?!" she called out. This was an abandoned hospital. There shouldn't be anyone here. Anyone except…

Her eyes widened. "Happy!" she shouted.

The blue cat glided in, paws on his mouth.

"Looks like someone decided to put you on ice, Lisanna," Happy teased, clearly not taking the situation seriously.

"You know, laughing at your own jokes is a good indicator you're not as funny as you think you are" Lisanna snapped. "Hurry up and get me out of here."

"Worry not," Happy proclaimed, swooping across the room, picking up a piece of concrete rubble from the far wall and flying back. "The Cat-mander is on the case!" With all his strength, he flung the rock at the ice. There was a dull clunk as the concrete bounced off the ice and fell to the ground.

"It's no use," Lisanna said. "You can't break his ice like that." Lisanna paused. She had to figure out another way to escape. That's when it hit her. "Happy, I have an idea."

-.-

Lyon was unsure what was going on in his mind. He didn't have to freeze the little girl. He could work with her. He wasn't opposed to having a partner. He used to have a whole gang. He might even be able to turn her against Gray.

He could kill her. He had no intention of letting anything get in his way. Failure after failure after failure, he stopped caring about the things he trampled.

But he chose to simply freeze her to the wall.

It was the simplest solution. Doing it would let him continue on without any hassle, without any worry about forming bonds.

Then why didn't he just end her? Back when he was on Galuna Island, if anything got in his way he would not have hesitated to end them. So why was he faltering now?

In fact, why was he like this?

He paused at one of the doors in the hospital, looking into the empty room. This was it. But he didn't enter right away. He couldn't get his mind off the question.

Why was he like this?

He had been single-mindedly working toward this goal for as long as he remembered. Now that he thought about it, back then he had other things on his mind. He wanted to be an ice wizard. The more people doubted him, the more hellbent he became on that idea. And when he finally found ice wizards, they laughed at his desire. He'd admit, he may have been boastful and aimed a bit high back then. But he wanted to reach there nonetheless. He no longer wanted to just be an ice wizard. He wanted to be the best one. But it seemed the world had other ideas, ripping away his dreams not once but twice, dangling Gray in front of his face to mock him, the boy responsible for nearly killing his dream was back. It was as if a higher power was mocking him.

He stormed into the hospital room. No. It wasn't a hospital room. That was a guise to hide its true nature. He looked at the one-way-window staring at his reflection. This was where the experiments took place.

 _"Ice Make: Eagle._ "

A single ice eagle flew at the glass, hitting it and shattering on impact. He should have known one wouldn't be enough. Otherwise, the person in this room could escape with no problem. With a yell and a wave of his hand, five more ice eagles flew past him and hit the window. The five ice eagles flew toward the exact same point, hitting it with all their weight. The window buckled then shattered, the reflective image of himself and the hospital room falling apart, revealing the dark room on the other side.

Lyon carefully stepped over the sill. The observation room was dim, a small table with two chairs against the sill to peer into the room, some magical recording books shelves to the right and a file cabinet at the back.

He was about to continue when he felt something brush up against his cape. He was about to turn to see what it was when, suddenly, his cape seemed to leap up, covering and wrapping around his head.

He thrashed around for a bit, still confused about what was happening. He tore his cape off his face, looking up in time to see a strange human-rabbit hybrid flying at him.

No.

It was that Lisanna girl. She had transformed into this half-rabbit monstrosity, white rabbit ears, massive rabbit legs, and…was that a corset?

He let out a grunt as he felt the rabbit feet get slammed against his face before kicking him, launching him and sending him flying back through the window and to the ground, a cloud of papers and dust flying up around him as he hit a bookshelf.

He slowly rose from the smoke, getting increasingly annoyed. He could see Lisanna standing on the other side of the window, the snickering blue cat hovering beside her. That cat was probably the one that decided to wrap his cape around his head.

"I see you've managed to escape," Lyon remarked, casually flicking away some dust on his shoulder.

"Next time, you probably shouldn't freeze me to a window," Lisanna remarked, getting into a fighting stance.

"So you couldn't break the ice trapping you, so you broke the window you were trapped against instead," Lyon concluded. "Next time, you might not want to tell your opponent their mistakes!"

Magic circles formed around both his hands. He launched another wave of ice at her, one that would pin her to the wall instead.

"No!" Lisanna proclaimed, leaping to the side as the ice flew past. She bounded through the window, leaping left and right. With a wave of his hand a flock of ice eagles flew from his fingertips. But Lisanna leapt back and forth through the room, waving through flock of birds.

"Next time," she said, leaping up into the air, pulling back her legs and putting her feet against his face. With a final powerful kick, she exclaimed, "Don't underestimate a Fairy Tail wizard!"

Lyon let out pained cry as the kick sent him flying back, launching him through the wall and into the next room. The wall behind him crumbled, rebar and concrete flying in all directions, a thick cloud filling the hole.

His patience with her had run out. That's three times she got in the way now. He didn't care if he was still flat on his back form the kick. He would end this with one spell.

" _Ice Make: Python!_ "

A long snake of ice flew from the magic circle at his fingertips, vanishing into the dust cloud. He heard a terrified scream from the other side.

Lyon got up, slowly walking through the haze. His python had hit its mark, coiling around Lisanna, pinning her arms to her body. Even her knees were pinned together and she struggled to remain standing. Finally, she fell over. But she continued to kick and squirm even on the ground.

"I'll admit," Lyon said, massaging his jaw. "That was an impressive display of power. You even landed a hit. Your pride as a Fairy Tail wizard and your care for your friends provides you motivation that increases your power. But motivation alone won't win fights."

Lyon looked at the girl. She was struggling more than normal. Looking at her, her eyes were locked on the head of the ice python, eyes wide with fear.

"I see," Lyon said, observing her expression. "You have ophidiophobia. I guess snakes are the only animals you don't like."

Lyon could leave her to struggle in fear of the serpent coiled around her. But he wasn't sadistic. He could almost laugh. He was actually going out of his way to accommodate her. He was softer than he thought.

With a wave of his hand, the serpent melted. It didn't liquify to water, rather it deformed before reforming itself as a simple tube wrapped around Lisanna's body. Finally, the girl's struggles ceased. She was no longer coiled by a giant snake. And Lyon had made the tube snug, but it was not squeezing the life out of her.

"Lyon, listen," Lisanna panted, clearly exhausted from the struggling. "You don't have to…"

The girl's voice trailed off, her rabbit ear twitching. Lyon stared at her for a moment. With ears like those, she must have sharp hearing.

"What is it?" he asked. Lisanna craned her neck to look at the door. Lyon looked up.

He had been so busy fighting he stop paying attention to his surroundings. He wanted to hit himself for that amateur mistake. He could hit himself later. Right now, he had this to deal with.

While they were busy fighting, someone had decided to walk in and watch, a flowing black long coat reaching her ankles, a white tube top leaving little to the imagination, and a smirk from watching the fight. She smirked, brushing back her long but messy blonde hair, tied up in a rough pony tail.

Lyon knew who he was looking at. He had become all too familiar with fighting her. And it seemed that Lisanna and pieced together her identity too.

"We both came here looking for the dragon slayer," Lisanna breathed. "I think she just found us."


	5. Facing Reality

**_A/N: And here is the next chapter. We'll see how this goes since this is a more action oriented chapter. I promise the next chapter will be more character oriented. I also wanted to use the chapter to address issues I had with Fairy Tail and set up how things will go in the future. Anyways, please review and let me know what you think.  
_**

-.-

Lucy knew she was the one who came up with the brilliant idea of coming along, but now she was second guessing it. Gray, Lisanna, Erza, they had worked together for a long time. Even without Lisanna there, Gray and Erza knew their roles on the team.

"So you're sure this is where the battle took place?' Lucy heard Erza asked, the S-Class wizard looking over the rubble form the destroyed buildings they found earlier.

"This is where the waitress told us," Gray answered. "Plus the destruction was a bit of a giveaway."

Lucy knew she always wanted to join the most powerful guild in Fiore. What she didn't realize was that this might have meant that she would end up a third wheel.

She wanted to do something that could make her relevant. What spirits did she have that could be useful? Taurus? The last thing they needed right now was a cow with out of control hormones. Aquarius? There wasn't any water nearby. And even if there was she wasn't sure if summoning a demon from hell was a good idea right now.

"Hey," she heard Gray say. Lucy looked up, not expecting Gray to suddenly start speaking to her. "Don't sweat it."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"You have that look in your face," Gray said. "Don't worry. You'll get your moment."

Lucy could not help but feel a bit insulted by this. Gray was suggesting that she was doubtful of herself, that somehow she felt inadequate. Granted, he was right. He had called out exactly what she was thinking. Still, she wouldn't have joined the most powerful guild in Fiore if she didn't think she could measure up.

That was the reason.

Right?

"You know before I joined Fairy Tail, I lost someone dear to me," Gray said. "I became obsessed with getting back at the person who took them from me. I didn't listen to people who tried to help me. And because of that, I lost another person dear to me."

Lucy looked at Gray in confusion, not sure whether to feel touched that he chose to share a clearly touchy subject with her, or insulted by what was being said.

"Look…Gray," Lucy said slowly. "I'm just not ready to talk about it." There was plenty her Fairy Tail friends didn't know about her. Telling Gray about her insecurities meant telling him about her past.

"And you don't have to," Gray replied. Lucy looked at him in surprise when he said this. No prying? No insisting? He was just going to let her keep her secrets? "Like I said," Gray continued. "I've been there. I remember that way back when, there was nothing anybody could say to get me to crack."

"And when you were ready to talk about it?" Lucy asked. She wanted to prove to everyone that she was strong. Talking about her fears seemed counterintuitive.

"Then I talk to someone about it," Gray said. "Erza knows more about my fears and flaws than just about anyone else. Being strong doesn't mean being without weakness."

"And…" Lucy said slowly. "How can you know when it's your time?"

"Well, you don't," Gray replied. "All you can do is make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew."

Lucy looked down at the ground. Wait for her moment… That was going to be a painful endeavor.

She cleared her throat. She wanted to move on from the subject.

"Anyways," she said. "What's the story here? Why are we back here?"

She looked at Gray, waiting for an answer. She could tell he didn't buy her response. But, it seemed he understood what Lucy was trying to do. He gave a sigh and moved on.

"Erza wants to gather all the facts before she does anything," he explained. "It's kinda her thing."

There was almost a sense of awe in Gray's voice. She knew Erza was a legend but she never realized just how much the people around her felt the same. But Gray's explanation didn't really tell her what Erza was doing.

But even as they spoke, Lucy's mind lingered on the previous conversation. She was born into the Heartfilia family. She never really faced a real threat before. And as much as she wanted to convince herself that she could stand shoulder to shoulder with the others in Fairy Tail, she couldn't.

"Gray," Erza said. "Be as detailed as possible. What happened when you arrived here?"

"I told you. We hit up a café. The bartender told us about the fight between Lyon and the dragon slayer."

"And she said nothing else?" Erza asked gruffly.

"No. Just that there was a dragon slayer working with Eisenwald to take down all the local dark guilds and that he got into a fight with an ice mage."

Erza suddenly stiffened. Gray opened his mouth to speak when Erza's fist shot through the air like a cannonball and slammed into Gray's jaw.

Lucy gaped as she watched Gray fly through the air and into the wall of a building. Lucy gave Erza a fearful glance, imagining the same thing done to her.

"Alright, you really need to cut that out!" Gray snapped, holding his jaw as he rose to his feet.

"You fool!" Erza shouted. "Why did you not tell me this before?"

"Tell you what? What's going on?"

"Lisanna's in trouble. We need to find her."

"Erza, what's happening?" Lucy asked.

Erza suddenly looked her direction, sending a chill down her spine. She could not help but notice the throwing stars in Erza's hand, suddenly regretting speaking up. Finally, she turned to look at Gray.

"Do you remember the job I took with Mira last week?" Erza asked him.

"Uh…was that the one where you wrecked Onibus?" he recited.

"Precisely," Erza said, seeming to not care about the mention of her demolishing a town. "Mirajane and I went after Erigor the Reaper, leader of Eisenwald."

Now Gray stiffened. But Lucy could only look on in confusion.

"Guys, what's going on?" she asked.

"Eisenwald's a dark guild!"

-.-

Lisanna was still frozen in a cocoon of ice as she watched Lyon stared down the dragon slayer.

The crazy jerk had already fought the fire dragon once. He was probably going to do it again. She had to stop him. She needed to speak to the dragon slayer.

Lisanna looked around, spotting Happy hiding behind a nearby bookcase. She wanted to call out to him but knew this would immediately catch Lyon's attention.

She looked down at her icy encasement. It wasn't as tight as the first time he froze her. She didn't have to worry about stretching herself to death.

She closed her eyes, her body glowing from the magic energy. She could feel the warmth from her body changing. When she opened her eyes, the world had changed. Well, her perspective of the world had changed. She had transformed into a tiny pink mouse, letting the now empty tube of ice roll away.

With another rush of magical energy, Lisanna changed back. She was still behind Lyon, still unnoticed. He was too busy rambling to the dragon slayer, saying something about how they've met again and how he won't let her escape this time.

Lisanna couldn't let this opportunity slip by her. She knelt down and picked up a giant chunk of concrete from the ground. It seemed a bit excessive. And had Lyon not been a magic user, it would be murder. But Lisanna's seen Gray get his face shoved through walls of brick. She's seen Erza blast through entire buildings. She's even seen Natus get thrown to the ground with enough force to leave a crater. A little rock to the head should be nothing.

She raised it high above her head, walking directly behind Lyon. Finally, with all her strength, she brought the concrete chunk down on him.

There was a crack as the concrete broke in half over Lyon's head. The ice wizard fell over in a heap, leaving Lisanna staring almost dumbfounded. She had such a hard time fighting him earlier. It was strange seeing him keel over like that.

But Lisanna couldn't linger on that. She finally had a moment alone with the dragon slayer.

She looked at the blonde, not sure what to say. It wasn't Natsu but it felt like the most progress she's made after two years of effort.

"You…you…you…" Lisanna could only stutter the same word over and over again.

"Uh…you ok?" the dragon slayer asked, putting her hands on her hips and leaning over. Lisanna shook her head to snap out of her trance.

"My name is Lisanna," she said. The blonde before her simply returned a confused stare.

"Ok," the dragon slayer said, clearly still confused as to why they were talking. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Lasagna."

The dragon slayer turned to leave. Lisanna did catch the intentional mispronunciation of her name. But she couldn't let it affect her. What she had fought for two years was right in front of her. Or at least the thing that could help her find what she was looking for.

"Wait," Lisanna called out. She couldn't let her stunned silence ruin this opportunity for her. "What's your name?"

The dragon slayer stopped again, now looking rather annoyed.

"Meredith," she said.

"You're her, aren't you?" Lisanna said. "You're the dragon slayer."

Finally, Meredith's expression changed. She looked rather interested

"So, you know about me?" she asked, turning back around, an almost eerie leer on her face.

"Well, not exactly. I know about dragon slayers. Well, I knew a dragon slayer. His name was Natsu."

"Ok, well what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, you're a fire dragon slayer, aren't you? Just like him. That means you must've been trained by a dragon. Who was it? Was it Igneel? Was it someone else? Is it normal for dragon slayers to just glow and float off into the sky?"

"Ok, back up, Pasta Girl," Meredith said. "I don't know any Igneel or glowing people or anything like that. What sort of name is 'Igneel' anyways?"

"It's a dragon name. He learned fire dragon slayer magic from him."

"He learned magic from a dragon…right. Look, girlie, I don't know what your magic floating boyfriend told you, but no one's seen a dragon in hundreds of years. A little common sense goes a long way."

"You can't tell me you don't believe him," Lisanna cried out. "What about your dragon?"

"Did you miss every word out of my mouth? There hasn't been a dragon seen in hundreds of years. I didn't have a dragon. I got my powers from a dragon slayer lacrima. Planted in me in this very hospital. And not by choice, I should add."

And just like that, Lisanna felt it. Something inside her shattered. It wasn't the first time it shattered either. It shattered over and over again over the past two years. It shattered when she came face to face with the fake Salamander. And now it shattered again. But the shards seemed to cut deeper than ever before.

"Then what are you doing here?" Lisanna stuttered out.

"Eisenwald paid me to get them dragon slayer lacrimas."

"Oh, so you're just on a job," Lisanna said, her voice wavering. It was as if a higher power was dangling what she wanted most just out of her reach. First a fake Salamander, now a different Fire Dragon Slayer. By this point, she was expecting another person who happened to be named Natsu Dragneel to show up simply so the higher powers can laugh.

"Hey, if a dark guild wants to pay me for a job, how can I say no?"

Something cold suddenly ran down Lisanna's spine. She couldn't have heard that right.

"Wait, a minute," she stuttered. "Dark guild?"

"What, you miss the memo? Eisenwald's a dark guild, sister."

It wasn't just cutting her anymore. It was burning her.

"So…you're using his magic to help a dark guild." Lisanna still couldn't believe it even after she said it. "I can't believe you! You're using his magic and you're just using it to line your own pockets."

If there was one thing Lisanna remembered about Natsu it was his love for his friends. It was his love for even the random person on the street. He wasn't a complex person, but he was a good one. As destructive as he was, he always used his fire magic for good. Just hearing how his magic was being used for selfish things…

"You keep saying 'his magic' like it belonged to him or something."

"It does belong to him. He always used his fire magic to help his friends."

Meredith rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed by the whole situation.

"Sounds like a stand-up guy," the dragon slayer said boredly.

"He was," Lisanna said angrily. "One of the greatest people I've ever met."

"Except for the chronic lying part."

Lisanna was livid by this point. The disappointment of finding another dead end, the insult of hearing what this dragon slayer was doing with his magic, and now this…

"What did you say?" she asked, her body shaking. Meredith let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm saying he _lied_ to you!" Meredith let out with an exasperated laugh. "No one has seen a dragon in hundreds of years. Do you know why? Cuz dragons have been extinct for hundreds of years!" Meredith let out a long sadistic laugh, clearly taking pleasure in the pain Lisanna was in. "Face it, girly. Your little boyfriend lied to you. And you just ate it up! Girl, you have problems!"

Natsu's face flashed before Lisanna's eyes, every tale he told of Igneel echoing through her mind.

Natsu didn't lie.

Natsu didn't lie.

She kept repeating this in her head. She refused to believe that one of her closest friends has been playing her for a fool.

"No, you have a problem," Lisanna growled, her hands transforming into tiger claws. "Me."

"I think 'nuisance' might be a better word."

Lisanna had enough. Meredith was working with a dark guild. That was reason enough to fight her. But she was also angry. The search had not only ended in failure, Meredith was an insult to Natsu's memory. It was his magic and she was using it for the one thing Natsu stood against.

She lunged at Meredith, swiping at the dragon slayer with her claws. Meredith effortlessly dodged these wild swipes.

Finally, Meredith grabbed Lisanna's claws mid-swipe. Lisanna tried to pull her claws out of the blonde's grasp but she wasn't strong enough.

Meredith smiled at Lisanna, a wide malicious grin spreading across her face.

"You sure it's a good idea to get into a fist fight with a chick that can ignite her body?" Meredith laughed. Instantly, Meredith's hands burst into flames. Lisanna screamed in pain as the flames consumed her wrists.

By the time Lisanna realized it, it was too late: she had just done something stupid. She had attacked without thought. She attacked out of anger without considering how skilled her opponent was. Meredith had gone toe to toe with Lyon, the mage she just lost to. What made her think she stood a chance? And now her arms were trapped in the grip of someone much stronger, flames engulfing each hand that grasped her. And she was now stuck in place, helpless against the flames.

 _"Ice-make: Eagle!"_

Lisanna heard that spell echo through the room. There was only one person it could have come from.

She watched as a flock of eagles made of ice flew over her head, ramming themselves into Meredith's face. Meredith stumbled backwards, holding her face in pain from the sudden impact. Lisanna turned around. It was Lyon. He had awoken and he didn't look happy. Though, Lisanna had to admit she may have had something to do with that.

"That was cold, Frosty," Meredith snarled, her entire arms igniting. With a wave of his hand, another flock of eagles flew from his hand.

 _"Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!"_

Meredith lunged at the birds, punching them out of the air, each one shattering into a cloud of glittering magic.

Lisanna prepared to charge into battle. She held out her hand, a pink magic circle appearing at her fingertips. Her hands were tiger claws. She now had to change the rest of her body for a partial takeover.

 _"Takeover: Animal Souls."_

Her body vanished behind a curtain of light. When it died down, she was back in her two-piece, her limbs now tiger paws. She was about to lunge in again when a sudden wall of ice emerged in front of her.

She looked behind her. Lyon was there, a blue magic circle at his hand. Judging from his expression, he had not forgiven her for cracking him over the head with cement.

"So…uhh…what now?" she asked, looking at the magic circle. Lyon maintained his glare for several more moments, clearly thinking about killing her. And it looked like killing her was becoming increasingly enticing to him.

The sound of shattering ice caught both their attention, the two of them looking in time to see Meredith blast her way through the ice wall, a malicious grin on her face.

Lyon growled in annoyance as he aimed his hand at Meredith instead.

 _"Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!"_

A massive tiger of ice leapt out of nowhere, bounding toward the dragon slayer. Meredith got ready, flames in her fist. Suddenly, the tiger did a 180, running a circle around the fire dragon slayer before bounding back at Lisanna.

"What the…" Lisanna barely managed to utter before the tiger dove between her legs, lifting her up on its back. Lyon leapt onto the ice cat as well before it took off out of the room and down the hall.

"You're not getting away!" Meredith shouted. Lisanna glanced back, spotting Meredith leaning back, her cheeks puffing out.

"Lyon!" Lisanna shouted. She knew that motion all too well. It was Natsu's signature move. And now it was being used on her.

Lyon glanced back, seeing Meredith clearly up to something. He aimed his hand the blonde down the hall, a wall of ice erupting from the floor. It was just in time too, as she heard the incantation she's heard hundreds of times before.

 _"Fire Dragon: ROAR!"_

The wall of ice exploded, almost instantly turning into water vapor as the pressure wave went flying down the hall. Lisanna felt the ice tiger beneath her shatter as well, sending her flying across the floor.

She got up and raised her claws, ready for a fight. But a set of hands suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an adjacent room. He looked down and recognized the regal sleeves of the hands holding her.

"Lyon," she cried out. "What are you-"

"Shh…" he hissed, clasping his hand over her mouth.

For a moment, Lisanna considered sinking her teeth into the man's hand. But she decided against it. Lisanna couldn't imagine what Lyon was up to, so she might as well follow his lead.

She could see the glow of another fireball fly down the hall, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

"Come back, ice pop," Meredith mocked. "Am I too hot to handle?"

Lisanna cringed as the footsteps faded into the distance. Fire puns, just what she needed to hear…

Once it seemed Meredith was gone, Lyon let go of Lisanna, shoving her aside as he stepped out into the hall.

"Uh…rude," Lisanna said, not appreciating being shoved aside like that. She should have bitten him when she had the chance.

Lyon either didn't hear or didn't care. He was more transfixed on the hall. There was still a thick mist from the earlier fight.

"So, are we good?" Lisanna asked, walking up to him. Lyon initially shot Lisanna a look of confusion. Apparently, he _had_ forgotten about her cracking him over the head with a piece of concrete!

After a moment, Lyon's expression dissolved into anger. "We'll discuss _that_ later," he said darkly, rubbing at the back of his head. "Right now, I have a fire dragon slayer to deal with."

"You mean 'we'," Lisanna corrected. Lyon looked at Lisanna, dumbfounded. "What? I can help you, trust me."

"Trust you?!" he roared. "Just a few moments ago, you thought declaring yourself a Fairy Tail wizard would somehow imbue you with the power to best me. I shudder to think what you'll decide to scream next to fight her. Perhaps you intend to rely on the power of love and friendship next? This is not another fantasy story. False bravado will do nothing for you."

Lisanna felt almost insulted by this. If she could hold her pride as a Fairy Tail wizard and her love of her friends close to her heart, she believed she could achieve anything. Gray and Erza always told her how strong she was and how far she'd come. Still, her defeat at the hands of Lyon proved she still had a long way to go. Lyon may have been a pompous loud-mouth but he clearly outclassed her. She didn't want to feed his ego, but this may have been the only way to work out a truce. This would be a good opportunity to win him over.

"Then tell me what to do," she said. Lyon was clearly taken aback by the suggestion. "Hey, you say you can't trust me in a fight. Then tell me what to do while we're fighting her."

Lyon scoffed at this notion.

"Yes, perhaps you would have me divulge this plan to her well? After all, you are suggesting we announce everything we intend to do."

"You don't have to," Lisanna said. "Animals have amazing hearing. Just whisper it and I'll know what to do."

Lyon growled, clearly pondering whether he should agree. Finally, he relented.

"Alright," he said. "When the fight starts, I want you to hide nearby."

"Wait, what?!" she exclaimed. "I thought you said-"

"You will hide until I give the signal," he said. "Then you will strike once and retreat. Understand?"

"But!"

"Do you understand?!"

Lyon's attitude was beginning to get on her nerves. But she needed him. Besides, even if he tried to kill her, she was sure there was a good heart in there somewhere.

"Alright," she said. "Lead the charge, fearless leader." Lyon glared at her for her patronizing tone before turning around and running off.

Before Lisanna could join him, she had to check on someone. She ran to the room they were in when they found the dragon slayer. After a bit of searching, she found Happy hiding behind the file cabinet she remembered seeing him behind.

"What's the plan?" he asked, leaping up to her shoulder. Lisanna's fists clenched as she looked back out of the room. She had cooled down a bit but she still felt some amount of frustration from what Meredith had said earlier.

"Now we show Lyon what we can do," she said.

-.-

Lyon was getting soft. That had to be it. The girl cracked him over the head with a piece of concrete. She uses incessant blabbering as a fighting strategy. And now he had recruited her help... He was _an idiot_.

He wasn't sure how helpful turning into wild animals in a fight could be anyways. He would've preferred someone with a beast-soul or something along those lines, something that was actually a power house. Or at least something that could do more than scratch. And with animals needing a close-range fighting style, she would just get in the way.

Well, if things go wrong, he could always sacrifice her to get the mission done. He would do what it took to finish the job. One way or another.

It didn't take him long to find his dragon slayer. She was standing in the middle of a random hall as if she was waiting for him.

Lyon held both his hands out in front of him, magic circles appearing at the ends of both.

"Round two, frosty?" Meredith called out mockingly. Meredith was transfixed on him. This would be a perfect time for someone to come up behind her and crack her over the head. He didn't truly expect Lisanna to do what she was told. But he wasn't going to lose anything by trying.

"Now…" he whispered. "Attack from behind…"

He waited for a moment, watching as Meredith ignited her fists. But Lisanna didn't show. Lyon scoffed. He knew it. Guess he was on his own.

Suddenly, a figure appeared down the hall, behind Meredith. Lyon instantly recognized the grotesque bunny-girl hybrid. It was Lisanna in the partial rabbit-soul from before. She bounded down the hall, leaping into the air and kicking Meredith in the back of the head.

Of course she decides to kick her when she had cracked him over the head with a piece of concrete.

Still, she did her job. Meredith was launched down the hall and at him. With a wave of his hand, a massive ice sculpture of an ape went barreling toward Meredith. But the dragon slayer recovered, managing to punch the ice ape with a flaming fist. She spun around for a bit, clearly expecting to find another person to fight. But it was just her and Lyon in the hall.

Meredith was distracted.

 _"Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!"_

A tiger appeared and bounded down the hall. Meredith spun around, barely able to block the slashes. She roared viciously, spewing a stream of fire from her fists. The ice tiger exploded as the ice turned to steam, filling the hall with a dense fog.

"Now," Lyon whispered. Right on cue, Lisanna seemed to appear out of nowhere. He could only guess that she was hiding on Meredith's shoulder as a tiny animal, probably a mouse. Now she had a partial tiger soul, slashing Meredith across the back.

Meredith whipped around, flames erupting from her mouth in Lisanna's direction, but the girl had leapt away and transformed into a white cat before bounding away.

Lyon knew he hadn't landed a single hit, that all the hits landed on Meredith were cheap hits from Lisanna. But that didn't matter. If they kept this up, they could win this.

He reengaged with the dragon slayer, continuing the strategy. He didn't want to admit it, but the dragon slayer was above his level. But that just meant more proof of his skill when he took her down. And he could say this strategy was proof of his brilliance. He couldn't beat her in a head to head fight, so he was distracting her so that Lisanna could sneak up and get in a cheap hit. And it was working. After fighting for a few moments, he would back up, whispering for Lisanna under his breath. Then, the white-haired girl would appear, hitting Meredith once before running away and disappearing again.

"ENOUGH!" Meredith roared, a wall of fire suddenly surging from her body in all directions. With a wave of his hands, three sheets of ice shot up in front of him. With how big that wave of fire was, he wasn't taking any chances. It was a good thing too as all three sheets of ice shattered. Lyon covered his face as the ice shards flew past him, a thick mist of steam filling his vision.

When the mist cleared, he could see the blast had cleared away the walls of all the adjacent rooms. By this point, it was a miracle the building hadn't collapsed on them. But the blast did reveal a shocked Lisanna on the ground, covering her head to protect herself.

Meredith looked at Lisanna before glancing back at Lyon. So much for that plan…

It will be difficult to impossible for Lisanna to run her hit and run attacks with neither cover to hide behind, nor hiding spaces to disappear to. Meredith glanced over at Lisanna, a smirk on her face.

"Any more friends you want to introduce?" Meredith mocked. Right as she asked this question, something streaked out of the sky. The dragon slayer leapt back just as they hit the floor. Lyon looked at the blades embedded in the ground.

"Throwing knives painted black," he muttered. He looked up, trying to find the source of the flurry of blades. He immediately spotted a figure practically soaring through the air.

With a flick of its wrist, another flurry of knives flew at Meredith, who leapt out of the way. The figure landed on the ground, magic circles appearing around it, swords forming out of them.

Lyon looked at the strange person. Their entire form was concealed by black armor, a hood covering most of their head. But the figure reached up and tore the hood off, a mass of scarlet hair flowing out.

Meredith's eyes lit up.

"So you're the mighty Titania," she chuckled.

Titania? As Erza Scarlet?

There was a bang down the hall as a blonde girl emerged along with-

"Not you again!" Lyon and Gray shouted at each other. Lyon really didn't want to see Gray's face again.

The blonde rushed over to Lisanna's side, helping the white-haired girl to her feet.

"Gray!" Lisanna called out. "That girl's the fire dragon slayer."

Gray looked at Lisanna in shock before looking back at Meredith.

"You telling me this chick is the dragon slayer's everyone's been making a fuss about?!" Gray exclaimed. Lyon felt his blood boil at Lisanna telling Gray this. If Gray and Titania were involved in taking down the dragon slayer, she wouldn't be able to take the credit.

Meredith looked around. She must've realized that she was now surrounded and severely outnumbered.

"Well, now," Meredith spoke up with a smirk. "It's been fun but it's getting really crowded in here."

Lyon felt his heart drop. If Gray cost him another chance to get at the dragon slayer, he was killing the guy.

Meredith put her fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle that could crack glass. Once she was done, she smirked at them. Lyon couldn't imagine what her escape plan could be. She was surrounded.

But then, a new whistle rung through the air. But it wasn't coming from Meredith. Lyon could feel his cape flapping behind his back, the wind through the halls picking up. Suddenly, with a crack, the ceiling above their heads suddenly sucked into the sky.

"It was some kind of updraft!" Titania called out, watching as the dragon slayer was swept up with the debris. Lyon looked up, spotting yet another figure in the sky. It was a hooded figure, a scythe in one hand and a magic circle in the other. As the wind lifted Meredith into the air, the hooded figure flew off into the night, his quarry in tow. And as the two of them vanished, Meredith gave a final mocking cry.

"T-T-F-N: Ta-ta, for now!"

Lyon clenched his fist as he watched his target get away. His body was shaking as he looked a Gray. Before he even considered what he was doing, he rushed at Gray. The idiot was shirtless so he settled with grabbing him by the collar bone and slamming him against the wall.

"You just couldn't keep out of it," Lyon fumed. "No matter what happens, you cannot seem to keep out of my way!" Gray suddenly seized Lyon by the collar around his cape and shoved back.

"Me?!" he snapped. "What about you? I haven't seen you in years and show up out of nowhere getting in our way!"

"Your way!" Lyon snapped back. Magic circles formed at the ends of both his hands while Gray slammed one fist into the palm of the other hand.

"That's enough," a voice said, practically splitting the air. Both of them looked up in shock. It was Titania that had said this. It wasn't a yell, but the fury behind her voice was more than enough to convince him to cool it. Actually, just hearing her say something like that in such a stern tone was almost intimidating.

The sound of light footsteps echoed through what was left of the hospital as Lisanna suddenly leapt between Lyon, Gray, and Erza.

"Wait," she said. "If we're both after the dragon slayer…maybe we can work together."

"I fear that is not possible," Lyon huffed.

"Ditto," Gray grunted.

"Oh for the love of…" Lisanna groaned. "Grow up you two!"

Lyon looked at her, not sure how to feel about her giving him advice she needs to take herself.

"Meredith has an entire dark guild on her side!" Lisanna continued. "We need to work together."

Lyon didn't even bother giving he girl a response. He did not intend to work with Gray and nothing anyone said could change his mind.

"That's enough," Titania said, her voice sending chills down Lyon's spine. "If you don't want to work with Gray, then work with me. I'm going after the dragon slayer so you can either get onboard or get trampled underfoot."

Lyon looked at the red-haired warrior, finally letting out a sigh.

"Follow me," he said in exasperation. He was about to walk away but Lisanna's voice stopped him.

"Lyon, where're we going?" she asked.

"Gray wanted to know where I've been all these years," Lyon said, barely glancing back. "Well, I'll show him."


	6. Lyon

_**A/N: Hey, guys! So now we find out how the world is being shaped now that Natsu's gone. As I mentioned before, I wanted to address issues I had with the FT series. In the previous chapter I tried to incorporate actual tactics into fights. And when the villains go down in Wings, they're not going to go down by last-minute power-moves motivated by friendship. The heroes are going to have to outwit their opponents. This will go for both new and returning villains. A little trivia: in my first draft of this arc, I had two new villains. Along with Meredith and a guy named Amon. But I felt that two OC villains cluttered the narrative and took away from the main characters so I cut Amon out.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.**_

-.-

Gray was silent for the trip. It wasn't that he didn't want to say anything. He just didn't know what to say. Lyon had led the group out of the town and into the woods, following a desolate road into the darker end of the forest. While Gray was grateful for the help, he couldn't help but feel that Lyon was doing this begrudgingly. Lyon has always been stiff but now he felt cold and distant, especially to him.

"This is where we'll be staying for the night," Lyon announced. Everyone looked at the small, desolate castle in front of them, a wall of dead trees surrounding the premise.

"I recognize that emblem," Erza said, looking at the symbol engraved above the doorway. "This is the Grave Dancers' guild hall."

" _Was_ Grave Dancers' guild hall," Lyon corrected as he led the team inside the castle. "I found this place while tracking the dragon slayer."

Their footsteps echoed as they stepped inside the rundown building. The large main hall had a few wooden tables scattered about and an old chandelier dangling from the ceiling. The moon light poured through the windows near the top of the walls. The name 'Grave Dancers' seemed fitting. This place was like a crypt. Part of Gray was wondering if the castle was built atop a cemetery or if there were coffins in the floor or something like that.

Gray eyed a metal helmet sitting at one of the tables. It was clear it has been through a lot, but he could not help but feel that not all of them were fights. He couldn't help but notice two circles on either side of the helmet. It was as if it once had horns and they were yanked off. No. Only one horn was yanked off. The other circle's surface was smooth, like it was cut off.

"Make yourselves at home," Lyon said, walking to the back room. Gray plopped down at a table with Erza while Lisanna, Lucy, and Happy took another.

"So, Erza," Lisanna said timidly. "Why are you out here? How did you find us?" Gray held his breath, expecting an explosion of fury form the red-head. Lisanna clearly expected this too, not daring to make eye contact. He knew whatever she had to say to Lisanna she had to say to him too. To his surprise, he watched her face soften.

"Elfman told me what you were up to," Erza answered. "I understand why you felt the need to exclude me but I would've still liked to have been informed." Erza took it better than he thought. Gray was used to suppressing his feelings. After Natsu died, he pretended like he didn't care. He suspected that maybe one or two people in the guild saw through his façade but he was confident that it wasn't many. Everyone had been touched by Natsu in some way and everyone was affected by his death. Lisanna may have taken it pretty hard but not as hard as Erza. Neither of them wanted to put her through the roller coaster of searching for him and being disappointed at every turn.

"But enough of that," Erza said. "It appears we stumbled onto something else."

They all looked at Lyon, who came out the back with a few plates of fresh food. From the looks of it, it was a few bowls of vegetable soup and platters of pork.

"These dark guilds are surprisingly adept at cooking," Lyon remarked, placing down the two trays that were holding the plates of food.

"I hope you have plenty of food," Happy remarked, taking a platter. "The blonde eats a lot."

"Watch it, cat," Lucy glowered. Everyone dug into their meals. This would help heal them and replenish their magic. Gray picked up the slice of pork and took a bite but then stopped. He was hungry but he had questions.

"What are you doing here, Lyon?" Gray asked in exasperation, the silver-haired boy pausing for a moment after he heard this.

"Gray, so this is the boy named Lyon you told me about?" Erza asked. Gray looked at Lyon, who could only return the glance. The guilt still pounded him like a hammer. He could only hope the Lyon had found it in himself to forgive him.

"Yeah, it's him," Gray said. "He's like me. He's one of Ur's students." Lyon simply acted cold and distant before. The moment Gray finished his sentence, Lyon's face turned into one of anger.

"And that is where our similarities end," Lyon said as if he was offended by the mention of the name. "If you really want to bring up Ur, then why don't you tell them what happened to her?" Gray clenched his teeth, immediately turning away. It seemed Lyon had neither forgiven nor forgotten.

"Gray, what is he talking about?" Lisanna asked, reaching over and shaking his arm desperately. "Lyon says…he says you killed her." Gray couldn't bring himself to speak, looking away in shame.

"Yes, Gray, why don't you tell them all what you did?" Lyon sneered.

"That's enough!" a voice commanded. Everyone in the room looked up. Erza had slammed her fist on the table, punching a hole straight through. "This mockery will get us nowhere. If you have a story to tell, then tell it."

Gray half expected Lyon to retort. But, looking over at the ice-mage, he seemed shaken by Erza. He wasn't cowering in fear or anything like that, but he certainly took her seriously. It seemed her charm worked on people who didn't know her as well.

"Our master, Ur, took in Gray after the Demon of Destruction, Deliora, destroyed his home. Then he got her killed. She sacrificed herself to trap Deliora in iced-shell after he tried to take it on again!"

Gray clenched his fists angrily. Of all the mistakes he'd made in his life, this was the one that always haunted him and Lyon just had to bring it up. He knew Ur always wanted him to just let go of his darkness and live life. He wished he had just listened. Maybe she'd be alive if he did. He couldn't blame Lyon for holding such animosity but he was less than happy that the boy just had to pour salt on an old wound.

Gray looked up when he felt Lisanna put a comforting hand on him. He had forgotten that he once told her and Erza this story. At least part of it. He had left out the part that the only reason Ur had even sacrificed herself was to save him after he stupidly rushed into battle.

"He didn't intend for that to happen," Lisanna said. "He was only trying to stop Deliora before it hurt anyone else."

"Is that what he told you?" Lyon scoffed. "He did it because he wanted revenge. He tried to do it before he was ready, after we both begged him not to." Gray had enough. If Lyon wanted to salt his wound, he could always return the favor.

"Why don't you tell them the real reason you're angry," he barked. "You don't miss Ur! The only thing you ever cared about was proving that you were better than her." Gray intention was to salt the wound and it was clear he succeeded. Lyon looked like he was about to rip the Fairy Tail mage in half.

"Don't you put this on me, Gray!" Lyon snapped. "It _was_ always my dream that one day I would surpass Ur but don't you EVER doubt that I cared for her. It's because of you she's dead and it's because of you I had to watch my dream shatter before my eyes. Not once, but twice."

"Twice?" Lucy repeated.

"How can your dream shatter twice?" Gray demanded to know. "The reason you were so broken up the first time was because you couldn't prove that you were better than Ur." An amused smirk spread across Lyon's face at Gray's ignorance.

"It took me a while but I realized there _was_ a way for me to surpass Ur," Lyon explained. "I need only to do the one thing she could not: defeat Deliora."

"How can you do that when Ur encased it in ice?" Gray scoffed.

"Elementary, my dear Gray. I melted the ice."

Whatever little composure Gray had, it vanished. Ur's half frozen face flashed before his eyes when he heard this. He bolted from his seat and out of Lisanna's grasp, grabbing Lyon by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

"You did what?!" he roared.

"Get your hands off me," Lyon growled. Lucy and Lisanna rushed to Gray, trying to pull the boy off.

"That ice WAS Ur, you idiot! Ice-shell doesn't kill its caster! It converts their body into the shell!"

"You think I don't know that?" Lyon barked. "I knew that was the case but that hardly means she's alive. And even if she was, I freed her from an icy prison to let her rest in peace. A prison you forced her into!"

"Gray," Erza said calmly, walking up to the group. "Let's hear what he has to say first." Gray glanced at Erza before returning his glare to Lyon. He was gripping the boy's collar so tightly it felt like his fists would explode. With a final irritated growl, he let go. Lisanna and Lucy led Gray back to the table, though he didn't take his gaze off Lyon.

"I was always under the impression iced-shell could not be melted," Erza said, pacing the room. "The iced-shell is shaped and molded based on the will of the caster, meaning it cannot be melted unless the caster wills it."

"Not by conventional means but a special dispelling agent known as Moon Drip can undo any spell, including iced-shell. With the help of citizens from Brago, where Deliora was frozen, I moved the demon to the island of Galuna. It took me three years but I was able to melt the ice."

"Galuna," Erza muttered. "That name sounds familiar."

"It's an island to the east," Lisanna explained. "Mira says there's an S-Class job asking for someone to lift a curse on it."

"If there is a curse on that island, I didn't witness it," Lyon said. "What I did witness was my life-long dream shatter for the second time in my life. The Moon Drip ceremony finished last week. The moment the ice finished melting, I watched Deliora die. Ur had constructed that shell so that it would slowly drain the demon's life."

"Good," Gray huffed. "It means that monster will never be able to hurt anyone again."

"You would not be so content if that monster's death meant the death of your dream," Lyon snapped. "You dedicate your life to a a mission, a goal, and just when you can reach out and touch it, it is ripped away from you. Can you imagine what that feels like? To know that everything you have bled and sweated to accomplish was all for naught?"

Gray wanted to just bury Lyon under a mountain of insults. He had even opened his mouth to do so, but he noticed Lisanna glumly hanging her head. That's when he realized that she has been doing something similar: chasing a dream.

Gray didn't want to back down from a challenge, least of all one from Lyon. But he couldn't see a way to insult Lyon without insulting Lisanna in the process.

"Then how'd you end up here? Lucy asked.

"I was lost for the longest time. The dream I had dedicated my entire life to had just been ripped away from me. It took me a few days but I was determined to make my dream a reality. There is one way, one way I can prove that I have surpassed Ur. If I can't kill Deliora, then I would simply take down something greater! I heard tales of a Fire Dragon Slayer wreaking havoc on behalf of the dark guild, Eisenwald, a subordinate guild of the Oracion Seis. I figured it's a good a place as any to start before I work my way up."

"You're crazy if you think you can go up against the Oracion Seis!" Gray barked.

"Believe what you want but I've been facing Meredith for several days now while every other wizard who has faced her died after their first encounter. You say I can't face the Oracion Seis. What you mean is I can't face them just yet. But when I do then there will be no doubt that I have surpassed Ur!"

"That's enough!" Erza roared. Courage fled from the room at the sound of her voice. Even Lyon seemed to be intimidated by the woman he didn't know. "Regardless of what he did or why he did it, our goals are aligned and Lyon has more experience and knowledge of our current enemies."

Gray guessed Erza would say that. He couldn't hold it against her. He knew she had a responsibility to stop whatever was happening. Still, it didn't make Gray feel any better. He gave an angry huff before standing up and storming out of the room.

"Gray!" Lisanna called out to him but he was already out the door.

"I'll go check on him," Lucy said, standing up and going after Gray.

-.-

Finding Gray wasn't hard. He was outside the castle, leaning against the outer wall. Lucy could see his scowl even with him trying to hide his face.

"Gray?" she whispered. Gray didn't respond. He didn't even react. She walked up to him, also leaning against the castle wall. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what. She stood there in awkward silence for a few minutes, hoping he would say something.

Lucy had only known Gray for two weeks but she had learned he was more than just the stripper she initially took him out to be. It was so easy just to scream at him for his clothes vanishing. Now that she wanted to say something to him, now that she wanted to help him, she was speechless. And it looked like he was too. Finally, giving up, she turned to leave.

"He killed her…" Gray muttered. Lucy looked back when she finally heard Gray speak. "He'd kill our master without a second thought…"

"She was more than your master," Lucy said. "She adopted you after Deliora destroyed your home. She was a mother to you…"

"In other words I killed my own mother," he breathed.

"No. What happened wasn't your fault. She died to save you but you it wasn't your fault. She died because she wanted you to have a long, happy life. She didn't want you to blame yourself for what happened."

Lucy looked at Gray but he didn't seem convinced. She knew it was a cheesy thing to say but she believed it. She could only hope she could convince him to believe it too.

She stood there for a few more moments, wanting to help but not knowing how.

"I can leave if you want," she said. It looked like he wanted to be alone.

"Wait," he said before she could take a step. "You can stay…"

Lucy smiled at this. He may be an ice wizard but it was heartwarming to see that she was helping.

-.-

"Dragon Slayer Lacrima?" Erza repeated after listening to Lisanna explain everything. Erza continued eating as she took in the new information. As a veteran warrior, Erza knew defeat was only truly debilitating if nothing was learned from it. She intended to learn everything she could from Lisanna's defeat and come back stronger than before.

"Your Fire Dragon Slayer has quite the reputation," Lyon commented. "After his death, there were many efforts to replicate his magical abilities."

Erza could not help but glance in Lisanna's direction. Usually, she would interject that Natsu was not dead. This time, she remained silent.

"So you are saying that this research into Dragon Slayer Lacrimas began because of Natsu's death?"

"No, there has been research into Dragon Slayer Lacrimas long before your friend's death. However, after it, funding that research appears to have doubled. Before there were only a small handful of Slayer Lacrima. Now, there appears to be many such lacrima being sold and traded. At least one lightning dragon slayer lacrima existed before all this. And lately, I've heard reports of water, ice, and even earth dragon slayer lacrima."

Lisanna and Erza exchanged glances.

"Erza," Lisanna said. "That means it's only a matter of time before we encounter more dragon slayers,"

"This may be a problem," Erza commented, hand to her chin. "If more dragon slayers begin appearing, especially aligning themselves with dark guilds, we may be facing some very powerful enemies down the line."

"Yea, but that won't be a problem for someone like you!" Lisanna said enthusiastically.

"I'm not entirely sure. Natsu lacked discipline but he was extremely powerful. I believe he could have bested even I if he simply honed his skill."

"You'll find a way around it. I'm sure of it!"

Erza could not help but admire the girl's faith in her abilities. Still, faith was not what won fights. Erza knew Lisanna admired her and Mira. A bit too much, though. The young Strauss always viewed them as far more powerful than they actually were. Lisanna may have considered Erza and Mira borderline invincible but the scarlet witch was not as naïve. She knew a wizard who was skilled enough could take her down.

She looked back when she heard the creak of the guild hall door opening. Gray and Lucy stepped inside, ready to go to work.

"Hope we didn't miss anything," Gray said gravely. Erza looked at her partner. She wanted to make sure he was ok. Gray had told her about Ur and Lyon a while back. She could only imagine how badly it hurt. "I'll be fine," he said to her. He must've noticed her concerned looks.

Erza Scarlet was an S-Class wizard. She was the most skilled in the group and the most experienced. That meant she had to lead them, that stopping these mercenaries and Eisenwald was her responsibility. She knew this all too well. She also knew this meant she couldn't spend as much time comforting her teammates as she would want. When she saw Gray storm out of the guild hall, she wanted to follow. She wanted to make sure he was fine. But she had to devise a plan to stop Meredith. It frustrated her to no end she couldn't be there for him. But she knew the sooner she finished planning the sooner she could check on him.

"How much did you hear?" she asked, not wanting to have to explain everything again.

"We heard enough," Gray said, putting his red shirt back on. "So you think Eisenwald's stealing dragon slayer lacrima?"

"Correct," Lyon said. "But not exclusively. They've been garthering weapons lacrima. One of the reasons I was at the hospital was because I heard they were looking for a Troia Lacrima as well."

"Troia Lacrima?" Lucy repeated.

"It's a medicinal lacrima that helps people who get dizzy or motion sick," Gray explained. "But why are they going around stealing this stuff? And why are they only going after dark guilds?"

"They've been targeting local dark guilds, absorbing their assets," Lyon said.

"Unfortunately, I must take the blame for that," Erza confessed. Everyone in the room looked at her in confusion. "One week ago, I ran into some wizards from the Eisenwald guild."

"Wait, how'd you find them?" Lucy asked curiously.

"It was actually unintentional. They were talking amongst themselves and I heard them mention that name. Fortunately, I immediately recognized it and confronted them. They revealed a plan to assassinate the local guild leaders. So, I returned to Fairy Tail and recruited Mirajane to assist me."

"I remember that," Gray said, snapping his fingers. "You said you took down their entire guild."

"But it appears we were as thorough as I believed. I believe that Erigor is attempting to rebuild by destroying and absorbing the assets of lesser dark guilds."

"Erigor?" Lucy repeated, unfamiliar with the name.

"Erigor the Reaper," Lyon explained. "Ace of Eisenwald, its most powerful wind wizard and its leader. You actually encountered him today."

"We did?" Lisanna asked. "When?"

"When Meredith made her grand escape."

"The hooded figure in the sky," Erza said. "That is likely Erigor. Lyon, you say you've been tracking them for a while now. Do you know where they would be headed?"

Lyon gave Erza an irritated glare. At least, a reserved irritated glare. It was clear he wanted to glare at her but was reserved.

"You know I may have been able to stop Meredith and Erigor if I was not busy babysitting today," he said gruffly.

"Lyon…" Erza said impatiently. The ice wizard rolled his eyes.

"Malken should be clear of dark guilds which means they'll likely hitch a train and head to the next town over."

"But there aren't any trains in or out of Malken," Lucy pointed out. "We had to walk here."

"Actually," Lyon corrected. "The trains have been announced to start tomorrow afternoon. They should have two lines open then open three more in the evening."

"Then we know that Erigor and Meredith intend on taking a train," Erza recited. "However, we don't know which one and to what destination." Erza paused once again. They needed a plan before proceeding. "Lisanna," Erza said, the cogs in her mind at work. "In the morning, I'm going to need your help on this one. We're going to wait for them at the train station. If they intend on leaving this place by train, we'll be able to see which one. At which point, you will board the train to follow them while I return here to gather the rest of you."

"You can count on me," Lisanna said with a nod.

"I agree with waiting for them at the train station," Lyon remarked. "However, we should not waste our time following them. We should engage them the moment we see them."

"If we fight in the train station we'll destroy it again and put countless innocents at risk," Erza said. "If we want to engage we will wait until they have boarded the train."

"Why only us, though?" Lisanna asked.

"We'll need to avoid confrontation. If they recognize any of us, I have no doubt a fight will break out." Erza could see Lucy's confused expression. Luckily for her, Happy immediately got to explaining everything.

"Erza's an infiltration specialist," the blue cat said. "She can use her requip into all sorts of costumes and disguises. And Lisanna's animal souls let her sneak into places."

"Sneak how?" Lucy exclaimed. "She's a giant purple bunny!"

"You've seen Mira's demon forms," Gray said. "All take-over mages have a limited ability to customize the souls they use, animal-soul wielders especially. Lisanna can control her size and color to some degree. You didn't really think there were giant purple bunnies running around the woods, did you?"

Erza gave a weak chuckle at the embarrassed look on Lucy's face. Erza knew Lisanna just made her animals take on her favorite colors but the girl could always revert them to their original ones whenever she pleased.

"I'm coming too," Lyon said.

"The smaller the team, the less likely we'll be caught," Erza said. "Besides, Meredith has seen your face. You will wait with the others."

"A three-man team is hardly large," Lyon scoffed.

"Lyon, you will stay here and wait with the others." Her tone darkened as she said that last statement. Lyon finally backed down. It seemed that her power of persuasion worked on people outside the guild as well.

"Well, if our plan is set then I advise we rest up for the night," Lyon said, turning around and walking off.

Gray gave another huff and walked away with Lucy staring at him worriedly.

With a plan in place, her job was done. Erza slowly walked after Gray. Her duties were done so she wanted to check up on her friend.

-.-

The castle was a decent size so it wasn't hard for Gray to find a balcony all to himself. He still needed time to think about all that's happened. He always felt guilty keeping the truth about ice-shell from Lyon. Now he didn't feel that guilt at all. Lyon had known all this time and didn't buy it once.

"Hey," a gentle voice called out from behind him. Gray didn't need to turn around to know it was Erza. He could see the red head join him by the balcony out of the corner of his eye.

"You don't have to apologize, Erza," Gray said, knowing what was on her mind. "You had your responsibilities."

Erza stared solemnly at the moon, leaning against the railing in front of them.

"Do you intend on reconciling with Lyon?" Erza asked.

"What's there to reconcile about?" Gray asked, trying to pretend that nothing was up.

"You and Natsu used to fight all the time but, in the end, you two always found a way to forgive each other and overcome any obstacles that are placed in front of you."

"No offense, but that's not the same at all," Gray said. He knew Erza found comfort through practicality. She didn't just tell people that everything would be ok. She looked for ways to make everything ok. Still, Gray didn't see any similarity between Lyon and Natsu. "Natsu's flames fried his brain cells but he'd never do something like this. Lyon killed Ur simply because he wanted to try to prove he was better."

"You mean he lost his way because of a goal he desperately wants to achieve?" Erza asked. "Much like how you were lost when you wanted to fight Deliora? You've walked this road before, Gray. Don't you think you should try to save Lyon from making the same mistakes?"

-.-

Lyon examined the frozen wolf head on his right arm. Whenever he engaged in a close quarters fight, he would encase his arm in an ice construct to amplify his attacks. While he was just as capable of making static weapons like Gray Fullbuster, he preferred using dynamic ice constructs. His wolf-glove could not only punch but sink its teeth on its target. He could not help but smile with pride, wondering what other weapons he could create.

It was as he was examining his creation did Lyon spot someone in the glass-like reflection of the ice: a white-haired girl standing at the doorway to his room.

"You know, it is considered rude to enter someone's room unannounced," Lyon said, letting his creation crumble into glittering blue particles.

"Sorry," Lisanna said with a nervous giggle, walking toward him.

"And just as I say that, you still enter unannounced," Lyon groaned. Lisanna opened her mouth to apologize and back out but Lyon cut her off. "You're already in here anyways. What is it you want?"

"I just wanted to talk," Lisanna said with a child-like enthusiasm.

"You're not my type, so no thank you," Lyon said quickly and dismissively, leaving Lisanna gawking in confusion.

"Wait…what?! I wanted to talk to you about Gray."

"Oh…" Lyon said, realizing he had made the biggest jump in conclusions possible. He was so desperate to be alone he didn't even bother to listen to what he was saying to get her to go away.

"What were you talking about?"

"Forget it," Lyon said. "What about him do you want to talk about?"

Lisanna didn't answer at first. She simply walked up beside him and stared out the window.

"You can't hate him forever," she said.

"Just watch me."

"You two were raised by the same master. Like it or not, Gray's your brother; he's family."

"That's quite ridiculous," Lyon scoffed. They may have been trained and raised by the same master, but calling Gray 'brother' was a huge stretch. He was pretty sure he would have to wash his mouth with soap if he ever used that word. He didn't even want Ur to adopt Gray in the first place. "We may be raised by the same foster mother but he's far from my brother."

"Family isn't always about blood. It's about the people in our lives we know we can depend on no matter what."

"Well, I can certainly depend on him standing in the way of my dreams."

"Families fight. That's what happens when people spend too much time around each other. The important part is for you to make up. No matter what happens, Gray is still your brother. Even if you don't feel that way about him, he feels that way about you."

Lyon looked at the young girl, trying to take in her words. Perhaps in a perfect world her words would have merit. But, in the real world, it was nothing but a fantasy.

Lyon looked up when he saw the young girl begin to leave the room.

"You say you hate him," Lisanna said, pausing at the doorway. "But I don't believe that for a second. Always appreciate the people in your life…you never know what might happen to them." Finally, the young girl walked off.

"Brother…" he scoffed, looking back at the stars. He never took the time to think about it before. For him, Gray was just someone who stood in the way of his dream ever since they were kids. He still felt his blood boil when Gray mentioned Ur, both for what happened to her and what it did to his dream. If Gray was something more to him, what did that mean for his hate of the boy?

-.-

As dawn came, Erza was the first to awaken. Her magic was recharged and she was ready to go. She quickly got to work waking everyone else up and they all convened in the main hall.

"Lisanna, you ready?" Erza asked as the white-haired girl put on her jean jacket.

"Ready as I'll ever be," the young Strauss said.

Erza figured she might as well put on her disguise now. Her body glowed with magic power as she sifted through all her available outfits. It wasn't just her clothes. She was going to need to hide her distinctive red hair too. As the light of her requip died down she stepped out, now wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants. She adjusted her glasses and brushed back her now brown hair.

Lucy gaped at Erza's change in appearance. The red-haired warrior knew that she could now blend into the crowd without being noticed.

"Come on, Lisanna," Erza said. As she walked past Gray, she stopped for a moment and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he said dismissively. It was certainly like him to try to cast his problems to the side instead of facing them. If he didn't want to open then she would have to wait. She could ask him about it by the canal they used to spend so much time by.

-.-

The battle from last night could be seen even from the outskirts of town. The hospital wasn't even a hospital anymore. It had been cracked open like an egg.

Lisanna was beginning to feel really bad about the destruction she helped cause. Erza, Gray, Mira, even big brother Elf with his one-armed takeover, they were all brawlers. Their magic let them go toe to toe with bad guys. They could exchange blows and all the collateral damage they caused was because of just how strong they were. Lisanna's animal souls gave her speed and versatility. She didn't have the raw destructive power the others had. She hated to admit it but the only reason she would cause the same amount of damage as Gray or Erza was because she was careless.

"Lisanna."

The young Strauss looked up at Erza. She was so lost in her own thoughts she had forgotten about what she was doing. Normally, Lisanna would answer Erza but they were both undercover. To anyone looking at them, she was nothing but a white tabby cat with a scarf following her owner.

"We'll take a break here," Erza said, taking a seat on a bench. The scarlet witch opened a newspaper as Lisanna leapt up next to her. The train station was far from fixed. The roof was still missing and cardboard was being used as makeshift walls. Half the support columns were nothing but concrete stumps and several rooms were still jam-packed by Lyon's ice spires.

"So, guess we wait?" Lisanna hissed to Erza as quietly as possible.

"We have no choice," Erza said, her eyes not leaving the paper. "If Erigor and Meredith intend to take a train, we'll spot them. When the time comes, I want you to follow them. Gather as much intel as possible. I will arrive with the others as soon as I can."

Lisanna gave a nod before curling up and laying down. She had a feeling this was going to take a while.

-.-

Lyon traced his fingers across his helmet. It used to have such a regal appearance. Now, the signs of battle on it were unmistakable. The once silvery surface was now a dull gray. The purple plume had been reduced to a tiny tuff of hair. He could see the stumps where the horns used to be. After he watched Deliora crumble into dust before him, it felt like the world he knew had shattered with it. His lifelong dream was ripped away from him. In his rage, he had yanked out the purple plume from the top of his helmet and threw the helmet against the wall hard enough that one of the horns was knocked off. Afterwards, he decided to snap off the other horn for the sake of symmetry.

Lyon set the helmet back down on the table. Once Eisenwald was dealt with, he would lose the helmet so all would know his face and name.

"What do you want, Gray?" Lyon asked. He didn't need to turn around to know Gray was behind him, standing in the entrance to his room.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," Gray said, walking into Lyon's room. "Thanks for looking out for Lisanna." Lyon raised a curious eyebrow at this. He did not expect the guy to say anything nice.

"Speak nothing of it," Lyon said dismissively. After thinking about what Lisanna said, he had decided it was easier this way. It was easier just to label Gray as some ass who destroyed his dream. He didn't to face the idea that Gray was like a brother to him. It was easier this way.

"So there's no way for me to convince you to let this whole thing go?" Gray asked.

"I already had to watch my dream shatter before my eyes twice," Lyon said. "I don't intend on losing it a third time. You should know something about that. It was once your dream to kill Deliora."

"Which is exactly why I think you should rethink your plan. Dreams aren't a bad thing. We all have dreams. But you need to be careful on how far you're willing to go. Ur died because I was blinded by what I wanted."

"Get to the point," Lyon said impatiently.

"I'm just warning you as a friend, if you aren't careful, you might end up losing something you care about."

As a friend…

Lyon was pretty sure they would be exchanging blows if the red-head wasn't there to break them up.

'Friend'…

That word just made him squirm for some reason. Never once did he ever see Gray as a friend.

"I've agreed to work with you because I know you will simply serve to hinder me otherwise," Lyon said. "However, Erigor, The Ace of Eisenwald, is mine to defeat. I will defeat him on my own."

"You know what I want to know?" Gray asked, walking into the room. "How come you agreed to Erza's plan? I actually expected more resistance."

Erza's colder-than-steel glare flashed in Lyon's mind. He may have been an ice wizard but the assassin, Erza Scarlet, was even colder than him.

"Her explanation made sense," he said dismissively. "The more people who go to the train station, the more likely it is for us to get caught."

A wicked smile spread across Gray's face. "You're scared of her," he chuckled.

"Ridiculous," Lyon immediately replied. Gray clearly didn't buy his answer.

"You're as scared of her as the rest of us are," Gray said, the smile on his face growing.

Lyon could only growl. There was no hiding it.

"So what if I am?" Lyon asked, crossing his arms. It was a stupid line but it was the only thing he could think of.

-.-

Lisanna was beginning to roll around on the bench impatiently. They had been waiting there for a while now and they still hadn't seen anything.

"Patience, Lisanna," Erza said, flipping through a weapons and armors magazine.

"We been here for an hour, Erza and still haven't seen anyone," Lisanna said as quietly as possible. "Could they have taken a train before we got here?"

"I don't think so," Erza said, glancing up from her magazine. "I think they just arrived."

Lisanna looked up. As an animal, her senses were all heightened. But in this crowd, she couldn't tell one person from another. It was only when she began scanning the crowd did she spot the small gang making their way through.

Meredith was near the front, five other wizards trailing behind them. But it was the man at the very front that caught her attention, a pale shirtless man, garbed in a shredded cloak and ragged cloth around his waist, a massive scythe in his right hand and a hook over his head.

"Erza, is that…?"

"Erigor," Erza breathed.


End file.
